Sea lion learns to boogie down

Scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have trained a sea lion to move in time to music, particularly Earth Wind & Fire's "Boogie Wonderland."

Up to now, only birds have shown the capability to dance in rhythm, according to scientist Peter Cook whose study of the dancing of a female sea lion named Ronan was published in the Journal of Comparative Psychology.


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Scientists say that only humans and birds with a capacity for vocal mimicry, such as parrots, have shown "rhythmic entrainment" – the ability to move to the beat.

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

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