Humans and animals have the same taste in animal mating calls

The bright colors of butterfly wings, the sweet aromas of flowers and the euphonious melodies of songbirds all evolved as signals that help individuals propagate, yet humans also find these very same signals pleasing to their own senses. In a study published today, Mar. 19, in Science, scientists from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) collaborated with researchers in U.S., Canada, and New Zealand to show that humans and animals not only express the same subjective preferences for one type of signal—particular animal mating calls. In addition, across the range and complexity of the animal sounds found in nature, humans and animals show overlapping preferences for certain qualities of an animal’s call. These findings indicate that preferences for some animal sounds are more universal than previously known.