This is a meaning that we already knew in some birds, but that no study had been able to identify so far in a mammal other than us humans. There have been isolated examples, such as a bonobo beating on a tree trunk in a zoo, or a video of a sea lion dancing on a disco, but they are anecdotal and above all concern animals locked up, taken out of their environment. natural. However, what Chiara de Gregorio, an Italian researcher at the University of Turin, demonstrates is that other primates, the Indri lemurs, in the middle of the tropical forest in Madagascar, sing in chorus respecting a very precise rhythm.
To confirm the phenomenon, Chiara de Gregorio studied 40 lemurs, adult males and females, which she followed for twelve years, analyzing 636 recordings of their vocalizations. She publishes the results of this work in a study published this week by the scientific journal Curent Biology.
Her conclusion: all Indri lemurs communicate in this way, in rhythm, offering a lot of variations, but always formed around two models, one that the researcher calls the “metronome”, and the other “the one for two”, “that we find for example, she told CNN, in the introduction to Queen’s song ‘We Will Rock You’“.
Understanding why Indri lemurs sing can help us find the origin of our human musical ability, our passion for dance and for rhythm.
Chiara de Gregorio, researcher at the University of Turinat National Geographic
What confirms that we share with other primates what we thought to be truly human, “and these results, adds Chiara de Gregorio to National Geographic, can help us find the origin of our musical ability, our passion for dance and for rhythm in general.“According to the study, lemurs sing to find a loved one or to claim a territory. A territory that deforestation continues to nibble away reminds the researcher, and which means that this primate is now classified as critically endangered. .