The Animal’s Tool Box _ Davidson Institute of Science Education

12.3.
2021 The Animal’s Tool Box | Davidson Institute of Science Education
The Animal’s Tool Box
h Dr. Yonat Eshchar

c March 22, 2020
m 12 min Science Panorama
From chimpanzees to crows, from dolphins to octopi:

Different species of animals use tools around the world.
Why did this ability develop in only a few species, and
why them?
"That was what was supposed to make us most unique at the time. Humans, and
only humans, used and made tools, we were defined as ‘man the toolmaker.’ And
so now we have to redefine man, redefine tools, or accept the chimpanzees as
human.”
This is how Jane Goodall, the renowned chimpanzee researcher, described in a

video produced by the institute that bears her name her thoughts after first
seeing a chimpanzee use tools. It was in the Gombe National Park in Tanzania in
the early 1960s. The chimp she watched took a long blade of grass, put it into a
termite nest and pulled it out, now covered with angry insects that bit the
“invader” and held onto it. The chimpanzee then brought the blade to its mouth
and picked the termites off with its lips.
A Jane Goodall video describing the discovery of tool usage:
https://davidson.weizmann.ac.il/en/online/sciencepanorama/animal’s-tool-box 1/13
12.3.2021 The Animal’s Tool Box | Davidson Institute of Science Education
Termite Fishing
That was the first scientific documentation of animals using tools in nature –
something formerly considered, as Goodall said, to be done exclusively by
humans. Tools are around us every day, all day, and we use them to eat, work,
play, clean the house or ourselves – to do almost anything. There is no doubt we
are the most technological species on Earth, but as Goodall showed, we aren’t the
only ones using tools. Almost 60 years after her discovery in Gombe, we know a
lot more not only about the different tools that chimps use, but also about other
animals that share this ability: Apes, monkeys, dolphins, and even birds. However,
this behavior is still rare in the animal kingdom, and we don’t know why one
animal uses tools when other species, close to it evolutionarily, do not. Some
think the secret lies in the cognitive capabilities of the animals, others claim that
many species simply don’t need tools. And perhaps the key to using tools is
sociability and tolerance.
What exactly is a tool?

To discuss the use of tools we first need to define what a tool is, and that’s not as
simple as it sounds. Does a bird building its nest use tools? What about an
elephant sucking water with its trunk and then transferring it to its mouth? Crows
are known to take nuts in their beaks, fly high and thrust them downwards so
that they break and crack when they hit the ground. Are they using the ground as
a tool?
Most researchers will give a negative answer to these examples. The common
definition of a tool is an object that is not part of the animal, that can be lifted –
i.e., not a permanent part of the ground – and that the animal uses it to change
the situation of another object or animal, in order to achieve a certain goal. Still,
there is no single agreed-upon definition for what a tool is.
In the case of Goodall’s chimpanzee, the blade of grass was a tool that changed
the state of the termites when it lifted them out of the nest, and it enabled it to
achieve the goal of eating insects. When birds build a nest, however, they do not
use twigs or any other object and change it. The elephant’s trunk is part of its
body, and therefore cannot be seen as a tool. Thrusting nuts to the ground could
be seen as “borderline use of tools,” since the crows that do this don’t hold a tool
and use it to make a change in the nut, but a change does occur nonetheless,
because of their action.
Furthermore, the researchers differentiate between the use of tools on a constant

basis by all individuals of the species, which looks like innate behavior that does
not need to be learned, to behaviors that are learned. The first type include, for
example, antlion larvae that dig holes in the sand and wait for their prey to fall
into them, and if it looks as though their prey may escape, they throw sand on it
and make it fall straight towards them. In this article, we’ll focus on the second
type, tool usage that the animal needs to learn: By itself, by watching others, or,
most commonly – by doing both.
Mammals with tools

Who uses tools in the animal kingdom? Iis Maybe not surprisingly, the species
closest to us, monkeys and mostly apes, show the strongest tendency to make
tools and use them. The masters of tools, if we don’t take humans into account,
are, of course, the animals closest to us: the chimpanzees. Except for termite
“fishing” - and in some places ants as well - chimpanzees across Africa use a
variety of materials for various purposes. They crack nuts using sticks and
stones; they gather rainwater that has accumulated in wells and holes in tree
trunks using “sponges” from folded leaves or moss, that they put in the water
and then bring to their mouths; they use sticks to open bee hives and reach the
coveted honey. Chimpanzees have also been observed sharpening sticks with
their teeth and using them to hunt bush babies, a small mammal similar to a
monkey. The bush babies tend to hide in hollows tree trunks and, using the sticks,
the chimps can jab them without risking getting bit.
A video of chimpanzees hunting bush babies
Chimp Hunts Robot Bushbaby with Spear
Orangutans also use tools, although less than chimps. They use sticks to reach
tasty seeds of the Neesia fruit, without touching the fibers that surround it, which
cause skin inflammation, and also to obtain honey from wild bee hives . Gorillas
don’t use tools on a regular basis, but they have been seen using sticks to check
the depth of water in a river before crossing it.
In the past 20 years, two species of monkeys have been discovered to use tools
on a regular basis. The Black Striped Capuchin (Sapajus libidinosus) in Brazil cracks
nuts with hard shells by using stones on “anvils” made of rocks or fallen tree
trunks. The crab-eating macaque (Macaca fascicularis) in Thailand use stones
similarly, but not for cracking nuts. Instead, it cracks open shells and snails, and
sometimes crabs, which it gathers from the sea.
A video of a nut-cracking capuchin:
Monkey Cracks Nut - what could go wrong?
Outside the primate family, which includes monkeys, apes, and humans, the use
of tools is rare. The few other examples include sea otters, in which specific
populations crack shells with stones, just like the macaque, and dolphins that
cover their snouts with sea sponge when they look for prey on the seafloor.
Researchers believe the sponge protects them from sharp stones and coral.
A study published in October 2019 showed tool use among Visayan Warty Pigs
(Sus cebifrons), a species found in the Philippines. Pigs are known to be smart
animals, and these wart pigs were seen holding pieces of bark in their mouths
and digging holes in the ground with them. They do so to prepare for building a
nest: They pad the shallow pit with leaves, and that’s where the female gives birth.
This use of tools is rare, seeing as how it does not have to do with getting food.
This behavior, however, was only spotted in three pigs in a zoo, and further
research is needed to determine if it is common behavior in the wild.
Cracking shells and other sea life using stones. A sea otter in California eating a crab. Photo: SPL, Doc
White
?Bird brain
We tend to think of birds as less intelligent than mammals, if not downright

stupid. Their flight ability amazes us, but we attribute reaching conclusions,
planning ahead, understanding cause and effect mainly to our group, the
mammals, and often only to a certain part of it. But even if it doesn’t really flatter
our ego, usage of tools of various types has definitely been sighted among the
winged animals.
The award for excellence in the use of tools by birds apparently goes to New
Caledonian Crow (Corvus moneduloides), black birds that live in the New
Caledonian archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. These crows are known for their
wisdom and resourcefulness. As we mentioned earlier, other crows tend to throw
nuts from heights to crack them, and even lay them on the road so that passing
cars will run over them. The New Caledonian crows, however, show a much
higher level of tool usage. They pick thin branches from trees, take off the leaves,
and sometimes bend the edges into a hook, using their beaks. Then they put the
tools they made into slits in branches, and extract fat larvae hiding in them.
Besides the sticks, they make clever tools from leaves of a thorny plant that grows
on the islands.
If the crows behave similarly to how the chimps do when “hunting” termites out,
using sticks and grass, the Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus) is the birds’
representative in the “cracking using a stone” method. The vultures don’t crack
open nuts or shells, but lift stones with their beaks and throw them at ostrich
eggs until these break, enabling them to devour their contents. This behavior has
been seen at the Khai Bar nature reserve in Yotvata, Israel, where they also have
Brown Necked Ravens (Corvus ruficollis). The researchers found out the ravens as
well get to the delicious eggs with a clever technique. They don’t use tools, but
wait for the vultures to crack the eggs and then steal what’s inside.
Video of an Egyptian Vulture cracking open an egg:
Egyptian Vulture
There are also birds that do what other animals (except for humans) don’t: They
use bait to fish. There are more than ten species of birds, half of them types of
Great Herons, that have been seen throwing pieces of food into water, and then
catching fish that rise to the top of the water. It seems that the birds know what
they’re doing: They’re throwing into the water only things that float, and always
close to the shore, where they can easily reach the fish that are drawn to the
food.
Video of a Great Heron fishing
Smart Bird Uses Bread as Bait for Fishing | Super Smart Animals | BBC Earth
Finally, even among mollusks there are animals that cleverly use tools. Octopi
near Indonesia have been seen carrying halves of coconut shells, sometimes two
halves. When they spot prey, they quickly hide under the shell, or, if they have
two, put those around them like an armor, closing the opening with their
tentacles. They use the coconut shell also as a moving den – when they want to
stop for the night, they stick it in the sand, bury it, and crawl inside. The next day,
they can take out the shell, clean it with water currents and keep going. How do
they manage to carry two halves of coconut shells? No problem: they put one half
inside the other, like bowls.
Video of octopus carrying a coconut shell
Coconut-carrying octopus
?Why so few
All these examples show that using tools helps animals do different things,
especially obtain food that is difficult, or even impossible to get without the tool.
There’s no doubt that the ability to use tools developed many times throughout
evolution, in many different groups. And yet, most of the animals, even the
majority of mammals and birds, do not use tools. Why is this ability so rare?
One answer seems obvious: Only animals smart enough to use tools do so, and
there aren’t many like that. Using tools requires high mental capabilities. The user
needs to understand what it needs to do with the tool, and plan how to use it in
order to achieve the desired result. Working with a tool often requires time to
reach the desired goal – a chimp fishing for termites with a stick will sometimes
need to turn its back on the nest, take a step away to get a stick, remove the
leaves, shorten it to the appropriate length – and only then start fishing. All this
requires good working memory, the ability to hold back the urge to immediately
go to the nest with the tasty insects, and also the ability to understand and
remember what the tool must look like – its size, length, and flexibility.
Holding back that immediate urge is very important when it comes to the fishing
birds. The bait they use is usually food, like bread. They could eat it, but instead,
hold back and put it into water for the chance to win a bigger and tastier prize.
This is a cognitive ability that not every animal is gifted with.
Furthermore, in order to use the tool, the animals need also delicate motor skills
– the ability to hold a tool in a hand, foot, or beak and move it precisely into a hole
in a tree trunk, for example. Animals that design their tools, like the New
Caledonian crows, need especially high-level skills.
High-level skills are required for tool use. New Caledonian Crows, an adult and youngster, picking
food from holes in a branch. Photo: Natalie Uomini
But some researchers believe that it’s not the cognitive capabilities that separate
tool users from those who don’t use tools. In a study published in 2018, rooks
(Corvus frugilegus) that don’t use tools in nature, managed to complete a task
that involves capabilities such as comprehending the tool’s effect on its
surroundings and the physics relation between the tool, the prize (a piece of
food), and the device it is in. A different study compared the Woodpecker Finch
(Camarhynchus pallidus), which uses sticks to remove insects from branches,
much like the New Caledonian Crows do, with the Small Tree Finch
(Camarhynchus parvulus), a relative which does not use tools. The cognitive
capabilities of both species were tested in various tasks, including some that are
directly connected to the use of tools, and – contrary to the predictions – the
woodpeckers fare no better than their relatives.
According to some researchers, it is possible that the use of tools simply isn't
helpful enough to most animals. Necessity, goes the saying, is the mother of
invention, and if there is no need – i.e., food is sufficient and so there is no need
for tools – then invention will not follow. Others believe that there are numerous
examples of species that could have gained quite a bit from using tools, yet still
don’t do so. For example, the Mariana crow (Corvus kubaryi), which lives in the
islands of the Pacific, in an environment very similar to that of the New
Caledonian crow. Like the latter species, the Mariana crows also feed mostly on
larvae found in trees. It would appear that using tools would serve them just as it
does their New Caledonia relatives, but they were never seen with sticks in their
beaks. This debate is far from over.
The advantages of sociability

There may be one more thing needed for animals to use tools, besides cognitive
capabilities, physical skills, and the needs arising from their habitat or diet. One
interesting theory raises the possibility that using tools is widespread mostly
among species that live in groups, or in which the young spend most of their time
with their parents, and especially if the adults show patience towards the young
and let them watch closely when they crack nuts or catch insects with sticks. The
use of tools that we speak of is learned behavior, and in most cases studied, it
seems the young learn by example from their parents or other adults in the
group. The learning also includes a period of trial and error, practice and
improvement that the youngster does by itself, but the presence of adults who
skillfully use the tools is highly important. In some cases, the youngster’s first use
is with a tool that the adult had used before.
Learning from each other. A young capuchin monkey watches an older friend eat a nut. Photo:
Shutterstock
Indeed, many of the species that use tools live lives that offer ample learning
opportunities to the young. Young chimps stay with their mothers at least 5-6
years and sometimes more, and keep in contact with her even afterwards. They
are exposed to other adults in the group, and the females especially allow them
to get closer and watch what they do. Orangutans don’t live in groups, but the
youngsters stay with their mothers for 7-8 years. Young capuchin monkeys are
very interested in nut cracking, and when one of the adults begins to crack a
nut they get closer, watch, sniff, and sometimes get their nose right under the
stone. They do that even with the male adults, who let them come close and
sometimes steal crumbs. The young New Caledonian crows stay with their
parents often for the second year of their lives, a rarity among birds, and the
parents are very patient with them and even continue to feed them.
Staying with mom at least until they’re seven. An orangutan with her daughter, about 3 or 4 years old.
Photo: SPL, Fiona Rogers.
And then there are us, humans ‒ the undisputed masters of tool use. It may not
always seem like it, but in comparison to other animals, we’re very sociable,
patient, and tolerant. Particularly when it comes to kids. According to this theory,
those two traits are tightly connected: We developed our tools – the technology
that makes us so unique – maybe not only thanks to our smarts, but also due to
our ability to accept the presence of others near us, the ability to share
knowledge, to learn, and to teach.

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12.3.

2021 The Animal’s Tool Box | Davidson Institute of Science Education

The Animal’s Tool Box

h Dr. Yonat Eshchar

m 12 min Science Panorama

From chimpanzees to crows, from dolphins to octopi:

This is how Jane Goodall, the renowned chimpanzee researcher, described in a

A Jane Goodall video describing the discovery of tool usage:

What exactly is a tool?

Furthermore, the researchers differentiate between the use of tools on a constant

Mammals with tools

A video of chimpanzees hunting bush babies

Chimp Hunts Robot Bushbaby with Spear

A video of a nut-cracking capuchin:

Monkey Cracks Nut - what could go wrong?

We tend to think of birds as less intelligent than mammals, if not downright

Video of an Egyptian Vulture cracking open an egg:

Video of a Great Heron fishing

Video of octopus carrying a coconut shell

The advantages of sociability

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