When It Comes to Rocking a Beat in the Jungle, Chimps Are the Champs

Humans aren’t the only primates that can keep a beat. Chimpanzees can too.

So says a study published in the journal Current Biology. In that study, biologists from Europe and Africa studied 371 instances of chimpanzee tree-drumming. As they move through the jungle, chimps stop at the bases of large trees to beat on the trunks or exposed roots. They use their hands or stones to produce the sound. It can be heard through the forest for up to a kilometer.  

The team observed two subspecies of chimps from 11 communities across Africa. They found that each instance of drumming utilized a distinct rhythm. Those patterns varied from chimp to chimp. It was as though each had its own special song.  

“It’s a way of socially checking in,” Catherine Hobaiter told The Associated Press (AP). She is a co-author of the study. Each chimp had its own “individual signature — a pattern of beats that allows you to recognize who’s producing that drumming.” 

Hobaiter’s team theorizes that the rhythms are a way for the chimps to communicate where they are in the jungle. It could also be a way to identify a certain group. Patterns changed based on where the chimps were from. Western chimps seemed to prefer an even beat. Eastern chimps chose patterns that varied between short and long pauses.  

Hobaiter’s research suggests music may have been in our blood long before we became human.     

“Our ability to produce rhythm — and to use it in our social worlds — that seems to be something that predates humans being human,” she told the AP.

Reflect: What’s a rhythm or beat you really enjoy, and why?

Gif of chimpanzee from GIPHY.