Why animal calls sound alike in time: Most species share a common communication tempo

From insects to great apes, by way of birds and fish, animals communicate through an extraordinary variety of sounds. While the pitch or timbre of their vocalizations matters, rhythm may play a more fundamental role. Scientists from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), the NCCR Evolving Language, the reConnect Institute and the Institut Pasteur analyzed more than 2,000 sound recordings produced by 98 animal species. All of them vocalize at a strikingly similar rate—roughly two to three acoustic events per second—regardless of their size, habitat, species or social complexity. This constraint i...