[UA] Crosswords and Blue Teets

Myles Corcoran myles at irls3101.ck.cit.alcatel.fr
Thu Jun 7 07:36:27 PDT 2001


Greg Stolze wrote:

> That is a bit of a puzzler, but it reminds me of the observations of the
> "genius bonobo."  (I think it was a bonobo.)  Anyhow, some researcher
> watching some group of monkeys found that one monkey discovered how to salt
> potatoes by washing them in the sea before consumption.  Before this
> "genius," no monkey had done so.  The others picked up the behavior from
> her and soon, every monkey was doing it.

	Japanese macaques, I think. Or was that the female macaque who 
taught the other members of her group about the joys of hot water 
springs. She suffered from arthritis and found a warm bath helped 
ease the pain. Others in her group imitated her and now the group is 
able to weather harsher winters than before (more baby monkeys surviving 
I'd guess). I think both cases involve macaques, though possibly not 
both in Japan. We're not the only smart monkeys, just the most 
successfully widespread.
	The blue tits aren't strictly migratory, but over several 
generations their range moves as the climate (among other things) 
changes.

	Myles 

--
Myles Corcoran      myles at ck.cit.alcatel.fr      Alcatel Ireland Ltd. 
                                        | (home) : (+353) 021 4503904
"Hard is the herte that loveth nought   | (work) : (+353) 023 20469 
in May." - Geoffrey Chaucer             | (fax)  : (+353) 023 20481

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