Within the rainforests of Salonga National Park, in the heart of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, bonobos wade through swamps. The slender, three-and-a-half-foot tall apes are searching for rushes and white water lilies. They pluck the herbs from the water and then discard the flowers and leaves. The bonobos are after the soft pith at the base of the leaves and other parts of the plants that grow underwater.
Now researchers find the aquatic herbs contain high amounts of iodine, an essential nutrient that promotes brain development. It’s important to researchers because prehistoric humans also inhabited the Congo basin, a place where it’s long been thought difficult to find this crucial element.
“Our results have implications for our understanding of the immigration of prehistoric human populations into the Congo basin,” primatologist Gottfried Hohmann of Germany’s Max Planck Institute, who led the study, said in a press release.
“Bonobos as ...
