The human dancing skills may have evolved from Chimpanzees. Sounds bizarre, right? The possibility sparked questions after scientists observed two chimpanzees in a US zoo performing a duo dance-like behavior similar to a human conga-line, hitherto never-before-seen before demeanor. The researchers led by the University of Warwick in the UK found that the levels of co-ordination, synchrony, and rhythm between two female chimpanzees matched those shown by orchestra players performing the same musical piece.
According to the study, other species have been shown to be able to entertain by moving to the pace of a rhythmic tempo by an external stimulus and solo individuals. This, however, is the first time it has not been triggered by nonhuman partners of signals, the research published in the journal Scientific Reports.
The newly described behaviour represents a new form in captivity in this great ape species. This has forced scientists interested in the evolution of human dance to consider new conditions that may have catalysed the emergence of one of human's most exuberant and richest forms of expression.
"Dance is an icon of human expression. Despite astounding diversity around the world's cultures and dazzling abundance of reminiscent animal systems, the evolution of dance in the human clade remains obscure," said Adriano Lameira, from the University of Warwick.
"Dance requires individuals to interactively synchronise their whole-body tempo to their partner's, with near-perfect precision, this explains why no dance forms were present amongst nonhuman primates.
"Critically, this is evidence for conjoined full-body rhythmic entrainment in great apes that could help reconstruct possible proto-stages of human dance is still lacking," Lameira said.
