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Abstract

The ability to synchronize bodily movements with regular auditory rhythm across a broad range of tempos underlies humans’capacity for playing music and dancing. This capability is prevalent across human cultures but relatively uncommon among non-human species. Recent research indicates that monkeys can predictively synchronize to regular, isochronous metronomes,exhibiting a preference for visual rather than auditory sequences. In this study, we trained macaques to perform a visual syn-chronization tapping task, testing their synchronization abilities over a wide tempo range and characterizing their precision andaccuracy in timing intervals throughout rhythmic sequences. In addition, we investigated whether the macaques used priors orerror correction strategies to maintain synchrony with the metronome. Our findings demonstrate that, following sufficient training,macaques exhibit a remarkable capability to synchronize across diverse tempos. Through an inference model analysis, we identi-fied two distinct timing control strategies used by the macaques: an initial strong regression-to-the-mean effect transitioningdynamically into a more precise error correction approach at their preferred tempo. These results provide compelling evidencethat primates possess sophisticated rhythmic timing mechanisms, effectively leveraging internal and external cues to regulatetheir tapping behavior according to task demands