Dance of the robots. Gibbons organized a "disco of the 1970s" in a rescue center: the audience was delighted

A gibbon dance was filmed at a rescue center in Vietnam. Seven great apes perform a dance consisting of sharp sideways and upward movements worthy of a 1970s disco.

The monkeys' movements resemble a cross between Peter Crouch and Michael Jackson. The amusing video shows the moment when the cheeky gibbon performs the dance for the enthusiastic audience. The author of the study, Professor Pritti Patel-Gros of the University of Oslo, called it similar to a human "robot dance," MailOnline reports.

Not only are the gibbons' movements similar to humans, but the monkeys were performing the dance specifically for humans - perhaps trying to get their attention when they are hungry.

The researchers characterize the dance as "a suddenly initiated temporary freezing of the body, accompanied by rhythmic, often repetitive body movements," although it was performed without music.

Interestingly, only adult females of this species performed the dance, not males.

In the wild, the dance is considered a sexual signal to attract a male - as the researchers say, a "copulation signal." But in captivity - as in the case of these gibbons - it has a wider range of uses.

The scientists noticed that the females performed the dance toward humans, usually with their backs to the viewer. So they believe that the dance is performed in anticipation of feeding or simply as part of social interaction with humans.

According to experts, these gibbons are definitely dancing because these movements are "intentional, rhythmic, and non-mechanically efficient," meaning they have no practical function.

"We speculate that gibbon dancing probably evolved from less elaborate rhythmic signals," the team concluded.

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