Ronan, a 15-year-old California sea lion, who now lives at the Long Marine Laboratory at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She’s still delighting scientists, leading them to wonder at her extraordinary ability to maintain a rhythm. Ronan only came to GSK’s lab when he was three years old. Since, he’s become the world’s foremost ambassador for animal musicality, proving that an ear for rhythm and love of music are not exclusively human qualities.
The sea lion’s talent is particularly evident when she bobs her head to disco classics, especially the song “Boogie Wonderland.” A recent study published in Scientific Reports highlights Ronan’s exceptional rhythmic capabilities, indicating that she can maintain a steady beat even after years of practice. The depth and breadth of her capacity to perceive and draw out rhythms has been thoroughly researched by behavioral neuroscientist Peter Cook.
Ronan’s performances have wowed audiences around the world, but mostly have challenged long-held beliefs about what musicality is and should be. Researchers have confirmed that she can adjust her head movements in time with tempo changes, effortlessly synchronizing her actions even to unfamiliar beats. Ronan tore through the competition with the showy virtuosity of a self-penned Gael. She nodded her head while listening to a drummer perform at each of three tempos—112, 120, and 128 beats per minute.
Cook has spent more than a decade investigating Ronan’s metronomic talent. As she’s gotten older, he’s seen her performance really come into her own. “No human was better than Ronan at all the different ways we test quality of beat-keeping,” he stated. This discovery places Ronan into an elite club of animal movers and shakers. He joins the likes of the world-famous dancing cockatoo, Snowball.
Ronan is a former rescue sea lion who rose to prominence around a decade ago due to her extraordinary musical talents. Today, she continues to be at the forefront of deepening our understanding of animal behavior and cognition. Her extraordinary capacity for dance even without formal musical education raises fascinating conundrums. It questions what we even consider rhythm to be and how different beings interpret that.