By Chris Gayomali
Some birds — like this inexplicable , Lady Gaga - know Cockatoo — have testify that animals can indeed follow a rhythm . They can bob their head and " saltation . " But outside of a few mimetic parrot , few brute ( including me ) have demonstrated any science whatsoever move in an esthetically pleasing fashion to a canonic 4/4 rhythm . At least until now .
Meet Ronan the sea lion . Psychologists at the University of California , Santa Cruz , say she ’s the first non - human mammalian to show an kinship for — dramatic pause — the art of dance . ( Watch below . )
" From my first fundamental interaction with her , it was clear that Ronan was a particularly bright ocean lion , " lead researcher Peter Cook , a psychological science grad scholar at UC Santa Cruz , tellsNBC News . " Everybody in the animal cognition world , including me , was intrigued by the dancing - bird studies , but I remember recall that no one had attempt a strong effort to show beat - keeping in an animal other than a parrot . " He contribute : " I envision train a mammalian to move in clock time to music would be hard , but Ronan seemed like an idealistic subject . "
For several months , Cook and his squad spent their weekend working with Ronan to move her drumhead in clock time to the euphony . ( An operose job that involved plenty of snacks and top dog - bobbing demonstrations , which you ’ll enjoy envision in your head . ) Over prison term , the gifted ocean lion learned to perfectly keep time to Earth Wind & Fire ’s " Boogie Wonderland " ( Ronan ’s fave ) and an indiscriminate Backstreet Boys song that is n’t " I require it That Way . "
" The fact that we showed Ronan could do it mean there ’s a raw capableness in sea lions , " says Cook . He hop her on-line stardom will reveal other lovely animals who have the similar cognitive ability to maintain a funky beatnik . You know . For scientific discipline .
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