The most striking images from the world of science this week: including an anniversary on Mars, a maze of 1.5 million books, and apes with a taste for alcoholic fruit.

In Cuba, a type of tree snail is a much sought-after decoration for the vivid swirling colours on its shell. So much so that several species of the Polymita tree snail are disappearing from the forests of Eastern Cuba. A mission is now ongoing to try to save these beautiful tree snails from extinction. Victoria Gill has the story.

On 5 August, Nasa celebrated 13 years of the Curiosity rover ambling over the surface of Mars. In those years Curiosity has clocked up 22 miles (35km) and sent back reams of data from the Red Planet. This information is helping piece together the mystery of why Mars' surface radically transformed from a watery landscape to the dusty red desert it is today. Shortly before its anniversary, Curiosity sent back images of a curious coral-shaped rock. It's thought the rock gained its unusual shape through mineral deposition from an ancient water flow, followed by billions of years of sandblasting by Martian winds.

Back on Earth, African great apes, our closest animal relatives, are known to enjoy consuming slightly alcoholic overripe fruit that has fallen to the forest floor. Researchers have now given a name to this popular ape pastime: "scrumping". Scrumping usually refers to the human habit of stealing fruit from an orchard or garden. This team of researchers now argues that using the term to describe apes' indulgence in overripe fruit could help the behaviour gain traction as an area worthy of serious study. Especially as understanding this behaviour could shed light on why humans developed a taste for alcohol.

Preserved for 2,500........

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