Pictured: Dr. Aniruddh Patel (left) and Dr. John Iversen (right)
Snowball, the prodigal parrot, has once again hit the airwaves. But this time it's the science side of Snowball that has everyone talking. Music has always been believed to be unique to humans. Thanks to Snowball and the scientists at the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego, California led by Dr. Ani Patel, that theory no longer flies - pun intended.
Below are links to some articles regarding a paper which was released in Current Biology on April 30, 2009 entitled "Experimental Evidence for Synchronization to a Musical Beat in a nonhuman Animal" by Patel, Iversen, Bregman, and Schulz. You can find many more links by Googling "Snowball dancing cockatoo."
http://inventorspot.com/articles/snowball_dancing_cockatoo_disproves_evolutionary_theory_21320
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103710332
http://www.discoverychannel.co.uk/news/dancing-birds-rhythm.shtml
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2009/04/backstreet-boys-cockatoo-shows-researchers-that-birds-really-can-dance.html
http://blogs.discovery.com/news_animal/2009/04/birds-can-dance-video-and-qa-with-harvards-adena-schachner.html
