Gorillas are able to spin themselves into a trance.
Gorillas are able to dance themselves into a trance
A new study has revealed that the primates are able to match the speeds of professional dancers and scientists suggest that they are trying to reach an "altered mental state".
Experts at the universities of Birmingham and Warwick analysed 40 videos of gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans and found that the animals typically completed 5.5 spin circles three times in a row.
The researchers theorised that spinning was a primitive behaviour used by human ancestors to tap into alternative states of consciousness.
Dr. Adriano Lameira, who co-led the study, said: "Spinning alters our state of consciousness, it messes up our body-mind responsiveness and coordination, which made us feel sick, lightheaded, and even elated as in the case on children playing in merry-go-rounds, spinner-wheels, and carousels.
"The parallel between what the apes were doing and what humans do was beyond coincidental."