![](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/18/N56EWLIMJCVPM4X34AUBOC3SQQ.jpg?quality=85&w=525)
![](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/18/N56EWLIMJCVPM4X34AUBOC3SQQ.jpg?quality=85&w=525)
![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6yS6qU_w3JQ/hqdefault.jpg)
Meet Ronan. She is a sea lion at the University of California, Santa Cruz and also a very competent dancer. According to her trainer, she’s also the first non-human mammal that can independently keep a beat.
Parrots and other birds have been known to dance to a beat, but up until now, it wasn’t clear if they were the only ones with a sense of rhythm. The leading theory (partially sparked by videos like the one below) was that a capacity for vocal mimicry was a prerequisite for recognizing a beat.
![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ERpIWTh18cY/hqdefault.jpg)
But even though sea lions aren’t the most vocally gifted, Ronan was successfully trained to bob her head along with a beat for a reward, then could bob her head along to songs she hadn’t heard, too. Until everyone sees this video, Ronan, dance like no one’s watching.