3 ms·

Maybe they should, but considering nests as such probably make it harder to find animals that don't use tools than those that do. Even many species of fish cre

Maybe they should, but considering nests as such probably make it harder to find animals that don't use tools than those that do. Even many species of fish create nests. Also, I wonder where you'd draw the line. Are borrows a kind of nest? That seems fair, but then are earth worms creating nests when they burrow? Are they using the earth itself as a tool, to conceal themselves from hungry birds? Probably not, that seems like a stretch.. but ants surely create nests. There is also the matter of animals that don't dig their own burrows but do use those dug by other animals. Snakes do this a lot I think, should that be considered tool use? Are the parasitic mites that inhabit unhealthy bee nests using tools? Then there is the matter of animals that create structures using material their own body creates. Are web weaving spiders tool users? What about snails? Or crabs that live in deceased snail shells?

oneeyedpigeon 7y ago
> Even many species of fish create nests. There are certainly examples of fish using tools in more 'sophisticated' ways than mere nest-building: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnOYpuKV4H4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnOYpuKV4H4
alistairSH 7y ago
There's a line there somewhere. But, I'm not sure which side bird nest building falls. Many birds aren't just making a dirt hole, they're taking whatever material is at hand and "crafting" a well-shaped structure. String, twigs, leaves, hair, etc.
- catalogia 7y ago
  It does seem a bit odd to me that gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans build nests in trees, yet the most often cited example of their tool use is fishing for termites with twigs. As far as fashioning things from sticks goes, fishing for termites hardly seems like the pinnacle of their technology. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nest-building_in_primates#In_hominid_apes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nest-building_in_primates#In_h...
- pretzell 7y ago
  See my comments above, but it seems like the line is whether the offspring will do that behavior even if isolated at birth. If they do, it's hard wired, if not, then it's learned.

oneeyedpigeon 7y ago

> Even many species of fish create nests. There are certainly examples of fish using tools in more 'sophisticated' ways than mere nest-building: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnOYpuKV4H4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnOYpuKV4H4

alistairSH 7y ago

There's a line there somewhere. But, I'm not sure which side bird nest building falls. Many birds aren't just making a dirt hole, they're taking whatever material is at hand and "crafting" a well-shaped structure. String, twigs, leaves, hair, etc.

catalogia 7y ago
It does seem a bit odd to me that gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans build nests in trees, yet the most often cited example of their tool use is fishing for termites with twigs. As far as fashioning things from sticks goes, fishing for termites hardly seems like the pinnacle of their technology. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nest-building_in_primates#In_hominid_apes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nest-building_in_primates#In_h...
pretzell 7y ago
See my comments above, but it seems like the line is whether the offspring will do that behavior even if isolated at birth. If they do, it's hard wired, if not, then it's learned.