Forget the notion that only humans can dance to music; Ronan the sea lion is here to change the game! This remarkable 15-year-old California sea lion has been captivating audiences with her incredible ability to keep a beat, especially when it comes to disco hits like "Boogie Wonderland."

"She just nails that one!" says Peter Cook, a behavioral neuroscientist at New College of Florida, who has studied her rhythmic talents for over a decade. Ronan's prowess in bobbing to various musical genres has led scientists to rethink the very definition of musicality in the animal kingdom.

Ronan, a former rescue sea lion, first stole the spotlight a decade ago when her musical skills were discovered. Since the age of 3, she has lived at the University of California, Santa Cruz's Long Marine Laboratory, where researchers have explored her exceptional ability to recognize and respond to rhythms.

She joins an elite group of rhythmically gifted animals, including the famous dancing cockatoo, Snowball. Together, these talented creatures challenge the long-standing belief that the capability to recognize and respond to music is uniquely human.

What sets Ronan apart is her ability to learn to dance to a beat without needing to vocally mimic music, a skill previously believed to be limited to vocal learners like humans and parrots. As noted by researcher Hugo Merchant from Mexico's Institute of Neurobiology, Ronan's skills have opened new avenues in understanding animal intelligence.

Recently, Cook and his team launched a study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, to verify Ronan's ability to keep a beat over the years. Using percussion beats at varying tempos in a controlled lab environment, they filmed her bobbing to three different beats while comparing her performance to that of ten college students.

The results? Ronan proved she’s still the reigning queen of rhythm! According to Cook, "No human was better than Ronan at all the different ways we test quality of beat-keeping," emphasizing that she has actually improved since her younger days.

Henkjan Honing, a music cognition researcher from the University of Amsterdam, confirms Ronan's status as an ambassador for animal musicality, suggesting she's helping change how we view emotional intelligence in other species.

Looking ahead, researchers plan to train and evaluate other sea lions, hoping to discover if they too can keep a beat. Yet, Ronan's unique talents will likely keep her in the spotlight as the standout performer of her kind.