A study has found that the behavior of chimpanzees drumming on tree roots to create rhythm is not just simple play but rather a performance with a regular beat, similar to drumming. This evidence suggests the possibility that the origins of music began even earlier than humans.
An international research team, including the University of Vienna in Austria, noted that they discovered similarities between chimpanzee behavior and human musicality. The research results were published in the international journal "Current Biology" on the 10th.
Through previous research, the team observed that chimpanzees produce sounds by hitting protruding tree roots or round plates with their fists or feet. Because each chimpanzee exhibited a unique style, the researchers speculated that "the chimpanzees use percussion patterns to communicate their location and activities to other chimpanzees, transmitting information over both long and short distances."
This time, they observed 11 groups of chimpanzees living in various regions of Africa to find out whether the sounds produced by chimpanzees living in different groups were different and whether they were similar to human music.
An analysis of 371 cases revealed that the sounds are not random but rather consist of rhythms that repeat at regular intervals. In fact, the rhythm style varied according to the type of chimpanzee. West African chimpanzees maintained a steady beat and drummed at a fast tempo, adding their own vocalizations, while East African chimpanzees varied the rhythm by mixing long and short beats.
Catherine Hobaiter, a professor of psychology at the University of St. Andrews in the United Kingdom, stated, "Music is an important element that defines humanity, but it is unclear when we began making music," adding, "Considering that chimpanzees share a sense of rhythm, which is central to human music, it is possible that this ability originated from a common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees."
Clues indicating that chimpanzees share a musical instinct with humans have been discovered earlier. In 2019, researchers from Kyoto University in Japan revealed that chimpanzees also spontaneously dance to music.
When the researchers played various music for a group of three male and four female chimpanzees, all the chimpanzees responded by showing movements similar to dancing. Some chimpanzees swayed their bodies, while others beat on the wall or tapped to the beat on their toes. Male chimpanzees were more active than females, with some males even vocalizing along with the music.
At that time, the Kyoto University researchers noted, "We cannot yet clearly explain why chimpanzees respond to music by dancing, but future research may uncover clues to the instincts and evolution of dancing to music."
References
Current Biology (2025), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.04.019
PNAS (2019), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1910318116