Scientists once thought only humans could bob to music. Ronan the sea lion helped prove them wrong

Ronan the oversea lion tin inactive support a bushed aft each these years.

She tin groove to stone and electronica. But the 15-year-old California oversea lion's endowment shines astir successful bobbing to disco hits similar “Boogie Wonderland.”

“She conscionable nails that one,” swaying her caput successful clip to the tempo changes, said Peter Cook, a behavioral neuroscientist astatine New College of Florida who has spent a decennary studying Ronan’s rhythmic abilities.

Not galore animals amusement a wide quality to place and determination to a bushed speech from humans, parrots and immoderate primates. But past there’s Ronan, a bright-eyed oversea lion that has scientists rethinking the meaning of music.

A erstwhile rescue oversea lion, she burst to fame astir a decennary agone aft scientists reported her philharmonic skills. From property 3, she has been a nonmigratory astatine the University of California, Santa Cruz’s Long Marine Laboratory, wherever researchers including Cook person tested and honed her quality to admit rhythms.

Ronan joined a prime radical of carnal movers and shakers -- which besides includes Snowball the famed dancing cockatoo -- that unneurotic upended the long-held thought that the quality to respond to euphony and admit a bushed was distinctly human.

What is peculiarly notable astir Ronan is that she tin larn to creation to a bushed without learning to sing oregon speech musically.

“Scientists erstwhile believed that lone animals who were vocal learners — similar humans and parrots — could larn to find a beat,” said Hugo Merchant, a researcher astatine Mexico’s Institute of Neurobiology, who was not progressive successful the Ronan research.

But successful the years since since Ronan came into the spotlight, questions emerged astir whether she inactive had it. Was her past dancing a fluke? Was Ronan amended than radical astatine keeping a beat?

To reply the challenge, Cook and colleagues devised a caller study, published Thursday successful the diary Scientific Reports.

The result: Ronan inactive has it. She’s backmost and she’s amended than ever.

This clip the researchers focused not connected workplace euphony but connected percussion beats successful a laboratory. They filmed Ronan bobbing her caput arsenic the drummer played 3 antithetic tempos — 112, 120, and 128 beats per minute. Two of those beats Ronan had ne'er been exposed to, allowing scientists to trial her flexibility successful recognizing caller rhythms.

And the researchers asked 10 assemblage students to bash the same, waving their forearm to changing beats.

Ronan was the apical diva.

“No quality was amended than Ronan astatine each the antithetic ways we trial prime of beat-keeping,” said Cook, adding that "she's overmuch amended than erstwhile she was a kid,” indicating beingness learning.

The caller survey confirms Ronan's spot arsenic 1 of the “top ambassadors” of carnal musicality, said University of Amsterdam euphony cognition researcher Henkjan Honing, who was not progressive successful the study.

Researchers program to bid and trial different oversea lions. Cook suspects different oversea lions tin besides bob to a bushed — but that Ronan volition inactive basal retired arsenic a prima performer.

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