give 'n' take

Counting well

Recent research has suggested that orangutans can use their own “currency” to buy favours like winning food articles. Scientists at the University of St Andrews have found that apes can get food for each other by trading tokens. And they do it only after they have learnt the value of each token and then exchange it for food at the exact value. According to Biology Letters, this discovery provides proof that non-primates react to “calculated reciprocity”. The research found that Bim and Dok — two orangutans — residents of the Leipzig Zoo, Germany, were skilled enough to help each other. In an experiment where they were given several sets of tokens, Dok, the female, identified the tokens that could be exchanged for bananas. She used them to source bananas for Bim, reported The Daily Telegraph. But after she noticed that Bim wasn’t reciprocating by getting bananas for her, she stopped. However, it was only after Bim responded by cooperating and trading more that their efforts matched each other’s.

good earth

Treasure island

Scientists have chanced upon a vast new expanse of lush green with undiscovered species on the Internet map, Google Earth. The mountainous region in northern Mozambique in southern Africa had been long overlooked due to its rough terrain and political problems. However, after a group of scientists found this uncharted land, a British-led expedition team found 7,000 hectares forest known as Mount Mabu. Within 21 days scientists found hundreds of species of flora and fauna including a new species of giant snake.