The Animal Kingdom’s 8 Most Impressive Dancers
It’s well known that humans have been dancing for thousands of years. Cave paintings from central India, dating back at least 10,000 years, depict people dancing. However, while young people enjoy showcasing their dance moves at nightclubs on Saturday nights, this activity is not exclusive to humanity. Indeed, there are numerous insects, birds, and water-dwellers that perform highly complex dance routines in order to attract mates, communicate, and even warn members of their species of pending dangers. Here are 10 fascinating dance moves that animals use to navigate their world.
The Synchronized Choreography of the Flamingo
Although flamingos are perhaps best known for their long legs and pink color, their most impressive feature is their dancing ability. When it’s time to attract a mate, thousands of flamingos assemble in huge colonies, march in tight formation, and engage in a dance routine that involves neck stretching, head-whipping, and wing-flapping in remarkable synchronization. This ritual sends a message to all the lady flamingos that they’re healthy enough to engage in some baby-making.
Bees Perform a Peculiar Waggle Dance
Even though the size of a honeybee’s brain is smaller than a grain of rice, they are remarkably clever. Studies have found that they possess an internal sense of timing, which is critically important when it comes to communicating food sources to the rest of the hive. A bee will perform a figure-eight “waggle dance,” with the angle indicating where the nectar source is and the length of this dance corresponding to its distance. The ability to translate movement into a living map is virtually unmatched in the rest of the animal kingdom.
The Red-Capped Manakin Can Do the Moonwalk
The red-capped manakin is a tiny little thing, but that doesn’t mean the male can’t put on a wonderful show! To seek a lady, he does this quick backward glide along a branch that looks remarkably like Michael Jackson’s moonwalk dance. The surface of the “stage” has to be smooth and uncluttered, so before the dance routine begins, he removes moss and debris from a particular perch. He does the dance with pinpoint precision and slams his wings together to create buzzing sounds that send the female manakins’ hearts aflutter.
Great Crested Grebes Engage in a Series of Rituals Together
The Great Crested Grebe performs a courtship ritual that just might be the most elaborate in the avian world. For most birds, singing is their go-to “talent” when searching for a mating partner. But grebes take it up a notch by performing a series of tests to demonstrate they’d make a good co-parenting team once their chick is born. It begins with mirrored head-shaking displays, which are done using precise symmetry. They then proceed to do a dance that involves plunging into the ocean and collecting seaweed. To finish things off, they rush towards each other, raising their chests out of the water while engaging in frantic paddling to keep their posture straight, and then presenting the vegetation.
The Seahorse Ballet
In most of the animal kingdom, the female is responsible for carrying the child until birth. However, seahorses are an exception, as it is the males who become pregnant. But before the female deposits her eggs into the male’s abdominal pouch, which he then fertilizes, they must do a slow, delicate ballet show. They link their tails and spin upward through the water column, taking care to synchronize each other’s movements. Everything has to be timed just right so that the female is able to transfer her eggs into the opening of the male’s pouch.
The Peacock Spider Death Waltz
The male peacock spider is so small that an adult can easily fit four of them on their thumbnail. But don’t let their size fool you—they put on a courtship performance that is worthy of a Super Bowl Halftime Show. When they spot a female, they do a dance that involves side-steps and vibrations. As they’re doing this, they unfurl their luminous abdomen, displaying red, blue, and orange colors that catch her attention. Here’s the important thing: if these moves aren’t precise, the female doesn’t merely reject him, she gets hangry, and he becomes her next meal.
The Lyrebird’s Got Talent
The lyrebird is notable for being able to replicate the sounds of all sorts of things, from other bird calls to camera shutters to, perhaps most amazingly, chainsaws! But this skill is only one of the many amazing abilities in their impressive repertoire. When trying to impress a potential mate, the lyrebird does a particular dance that carefully matches the rhythm and structure of the song he’s singing. Essentially, he’s a one-bird band.
The Incredible Propelling Sea Slug
While the vibrantly colored Spanish Shawl might look like a delectable piece of purple and orange candy to predators, it’s really not worth the pain to eat it. See, when this sea slug found along the Pacific coast of North America feasts on flower-like creatures called hydroids, it is able to store their undischarged stingers on its back. This serves as a warning to hungry fish not to mess with it, but when they decide to take their chances anyway, the slug propels itself to safety by flexing its body into a U-shape and rapidly thrashing itself around in a rhythmic fashion. It’s the kind of swimming performance worthy of Olympic gold.