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scientists have taught dolphins to combine both rhythm and vocalizations to produce music, which has resulted in an extremely high-pitched, short version of the "batman" theme song.
the findings, outlined in two studies, represent the first time that nonhuman mammals have demonstrated that they can recognize rhythms and reproduce them vocally.
the studies will be presented at the joint meeting of the acoustical society of america and noise-con 2005, which runs from oct. 17-21 in minneapolis.
"humans are sensitive to rhythms embedded in sequences of sounds, but we typically consider this skill to be part of processing for language and music, cognitive domains that we consider to be uniquely human," said heidi harley, lead author of both studies, "clearly aspects of those domains are available to other species."
"the dolphin was reinforced for producing a specific rhythm to a specific object," said harley. "for example, when we presented him with a 'batman' doll, he received a fish for producing a specific rhythm — in this case, a short sound and then a long one."
the dolphin spontaneously vocalized to the rhythms, so the researchers started to reward the subject with fish whenever it matched its "singing" to the rhythms. by the end of the studies, the scientists could show an object, such as the batman doll, which represented a certain rhythm/vocalization combo to the dolphin, and it would create the correct sounds vocally.
gordon bauer, associate professor of psychology at the new college of florida who did not work on the studies, commented, "this is the first report, to my knowledge, of a nonhuman mammal's ability to discriminate rhythmic patterns."
bauer, however, doubts that dolphins realize they are producing what people consider to be "music."
"i think music is a human construct," he said. "i doubt that it has pertinence to animals, although the elements of music, such as pitch, time, timbre, rhythm, etc., may be incorporated into animal communication."
no one tell puffy, he will want to "make a band"
xxoozero
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