Without training or rewards, wild seal pups can determine their favorite beats better than some primates.
They recorded how many times the seals turned their heads to look at the source of a sound behind their backs,
. The turning indicates that the seals find the stimulus interesting. If seals can discriminate between different rhythmic properties, they might look longer or more often when they hear a sequence they prefer.The seals happened to look more frequently when the vocalizations were faster, longer, or rhythmically regular.
The next steps for Verga and her team are to decipher whether seals perceive rhythm in abstract sounds or the vocalizations of other animals, and if other mammals show the same skills. “Are seals special, or are other mammals also capable of spontaneously perceiving rhythm?” she asked.