DISCO DANCING SEA LION

DISCO DANCING SEA LION

Californian Scientists have trained a sea lion to move in time with the disco classic Boogie Wonderland by Earth Wind & Fire. The study has been published in the Journal of Comparative Psychology.

Peter Cook, of the University of California, claims the female sea lion, Ronan is ‘the first creature other than a human or a bird had shown the ability to keep a rhythm’.

Mr Cook said, 'Ronan's success poses a real problem for the theory that vocal mimicry is a necessary precondition for rhythmic entrainment.'

Ronan was rescued by the university’s marine centre after being found on Highway 1. She was initially trained to bob her head in time with rhythmic sounds and encouraged to transfer the skill to tempos and music.

Mr Cook said, 'From my first interactions with her, it was clear that Ronan was a particularly bright sea lion... I figured training a mammal to move in time to music would be hard, but Ronan seemed like an ideal subject.'

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