No Silver Bullet for Rhythm Analysis

A growing number of studies are quantifying rhythmic behavior in animal displays. A recent such study questioned several aspects of the commonly used methodology and proposed an alternative approach. Most notably, the choice of null hypothesis constitutes a key element of studies into rhythmic behavior. This methodological choice is particularly important because it determines the chances of finding a rhythmic behavior that is nonrandom, while also strongly influencing the interpretation of a study's conclusions. Here, we take the newly proposed approach as an opportunity to assess the current state of the art in cross-species rhythm analysis, highlighting that there exists not one single best approach. If we want to better understand rhythmic behavior and its underlying cognitive mechanisms and evolutionary origins, we need to tackle the definition of temporal randomness. Quantifying a broad variety of rhythmic behavior in different species will be essential to this endeavor, without limiting our focus to a single methodological approach.