A study shows that chimpanzees love to dance. They also like clapping, nodding their head, and tapping their feet to music. Researchers say their study could explain how humans started to like music. They did tests on seven chimps and played them piano music for six days. The researchers said the chimps had a sense of rhythm and the music changed their mood. The male chimpanzees seemed to move to the songs more than the females.
Chimpanzees passed on a liking for dance to early humans around six million years ago. The researchers said the love of dancing was in the earliest humans. A researcher said: "Chimpanzees dance...in the same way as humans." She added: "Listening to music causes rhythmic movement, suggesting a close connection between the [hearing and movement] areas in the brain." She believes the research could explain why we love dancing so much.