How Chimps and Orangutans can Swim and Dive like humans

They may be no match for Olympian Michael Phelps, but a chimp and orangutan have proved to scientists that apes can swim just like us!

So funny!

The two captive animals were separately filmed ploughing through water using a form of breaststroke although most land mammals swim using doggy-paddle.

Scientists believe the peculiar swimming style of humans and apes might be the result of life in the trees.

Great apes are not known for their swimming ability, and there have been cases of them drowning in zoos that use water moats to confine them.

The chimpanzee, called Cooper, showed off his skills in a swimming pool in Missouri.

Not only could he swim, but he enjoyed diving to the bottom of the six-foot deep pool to pick up objects.

"It was very surprising behaviour for an animal that is thought to be very afraid of water," said researcher Renato Bender, from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.

The orangutan, named Suryia, was filmed at a private zoo in South Carolina swimming freely over a distance of 12 metres.

Both animals used a leg movement similar to the breaststroke "frog kick", according to a report in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.

Longest animal memory 'in dolphins'

Forget about elephants !

Scientists say they believe it's dolphins that have the longest memories of non-human species.

Researchers in the US say that even after 20 years of separation, dolphins can recall the whistles of former companions.

They believe this could be because dolphins have complex social lives, often leaving a group and joining it again much later.

The dolphins were able to remember family members as well as strangers.

Researchers in the US say that even after 20 years of separation, dolphins could recall the whistles of former companions.

The authors believe that these long-term memories are a product of the complex social connections that dolphins have evolved.

The research is published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Kai was one of the dolphins in the study, he was 16 years old when this picture was taken

In the study, the scientists used information on the relationships between 56 captive bottlenose dolphins that have been moved for breeding purposes between six different zoos and aquariums in the US and Bermuda.

Total recall

The researchers then played recordings to the dolphins on underwater speakers of the signature whistles of animals they had once lived with, and measured their responses.

"When they are familiar with the call, the dolphins are more likely to approach the speakers for longer periods of time," said Dr Jason Bruck from the University of Chicago who carried out the study.

"They will maintain contact with the speaker - if they are unfamiliar with the call they are more likely to ignore what I am playing. It's unprecedented in the study of animal behaviour to find memories this long."

Dr Bruck highlighted the case of two female dolphins called Allie and Bailey. They had once lived together in the Florida keys when they were very young.

The scientists say that the complicated nature of their social groupings impact their ability to recall whistles

Bailey now lives in Bermuda but when a recording of Allie was played, she instantly responded in even though it was was 20 years and six months since they had been in contact.

Dr Bruck says this type of response was typical. Compared to unfamiliar calls, there was a clear pattern in the data where dolphins responded significantly more to whistles from animals they had once known, even if they hadn't seen or heard them in decades.

To check that the dolphin's response was due to recognition of a former companion, Dr Bruck would also play a test recording of an unfamiliar bottlenose that was the same age and gender as the familiar animal.

Nuclear family

The researchers believe that the complex nature of dolphin social systems is behind the long term memory effect.

In the ocean, dolphins have a fluid social arrangement that scientists term a "fission-fusion" model. They may leave one group and join others many times in their lifetimes.

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Intelligent cetacean behaviour

• Dolphins taking part in an experiment had to press one of two levers to distinguish between sounds, some of which were very similar. By pressing a third lever, they were able to tell the researchers they wanted to "pass" on a particular test because it was too hard. "When you place dolphins in a situation like that they respond in exactly the same way humans do," said Dr Lori Marino. "They are accessing their own minds and thinking their own thoughts."
• A number of captive dolphins were rewarded with fish in return for tidying up their tank. One of them ripped up a large paper bag, hid away the pieces, and presented them one at a time to get multiple rewards.

"It is important for them to recall the calls of dolphins they have had previous encounters with, to decide whether or not that's someone they want to approach when they hear that whistle about a mile out, or whether they want to avoid that individual," said Dr Bruck.

"Having a long term social recognition for that ecological reason can be the difference between an animal having a very negative social interaction and a positive one."

According to the researchers, a dolphin's abilities to recall events indicate that the cetaceans have a level of cognitive sophistication comparable to humans, chimpanzees and elephants.

While elephants are also reputed to have extremely long memories of up to 20 years, there is little scientific evidence of their abilities outside of family relationships.

In this research paper, the dolphins were able to remember family members as well as strangers.

In recent weeks, another study has shown that dolphins have their own signature whistles that appear to have the same function as names do for humans.

From CBBC/BBC News

Cutlery can influence taste of food say scientists

What colour spoon would you eat your breakfast with?

A team from Oxford University has been looking at how the cutlery we use can influence the flavours we taste.

The scientists found that cheese tastes saltier when eaten from a knife rather than a fork; and white spoons can make yoghurt taste better.

The findings from the study suggest the brain makes judgements on how a food will taste before you put it in your mouth.

More than 100 students took part in three experiments looking at the influence of weight, colour and shape of cutlery on how food tastes.

As well as colour, the size of the cutlery was also found to change flavour.

Food was reported to be sweeter when served on smaller spoons.

Dr Harrar, who lead the experiment, said: "Subtly changing eating implements and tableware can affect how pleasurable, or filling, food appears."

From CBBC News