Overview

• Ronan, a California sea lion, maintained metronome beats at 112, 120, and 128 bpm with greater precision than most human participants in a recent study.
• At 120 bpm, Ronan outperformed eight out of ten human students, achieving the lowest timing variability recorded in the trials.
• The study highlights how Ronan’s long-term training and maturation over 12 years contributed to her refined rhythmic accuracy.
• Her ability to synchronize movements challenges the hypothesis that vocal learning is essential for beat synchronization in animals.
• Researchers caution that while the findings are significant, further studies with larger samples are needed to confirm the results.