Elephant seals 'recognise vocal rhythm'
Male elephant seals recognise the rhythm of one another's voices, researchers say.Scientists in the US "decoded" the calls of male elephant seals, revealing that vocal communication played a crucial part in their social lives.This showed seals communicating their identity with deep, rhythmic calls.In their Current Biology paper, the team says this is the first example of non-human mammals "using rhythm" in everyday life. Singing elephants?Just as humans can identify a particular song based on its distinctive rhythm, this research revealed that male elephant seals could identify each other from the pulsing pattern of their calls.Lead author Prof Nicolas Mathevon, from the University of Lyon and St Etienne, described these grumping vocalisations as "distinctive". They were "very rhythmic, li...