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Making tools, such as bending wire to make a hook in this case, is distinct from just using found objects.
by simonh 3y ago
Making tools, such as bending wire to make a hook in this case, is distinct from just using found objects.
- solardev 3y agoYep, that's a distinction the OP made I didn't catch at first, and only subsequently corrected my comment. Even then, however, elephants have been known to modify branches (https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2002-10036-002 https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2002-10036-002), other birds in the same family (corvids) can manipulate wires similarly to the crows (https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.0901008106 https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.0901008106), dolphins can use shells in non-obvious ways (https://www.wired.com/2011/08/dolphin-fishing/ https://www.wired.com/2011/08/dolphin-fishing/), etc. There are probably more out there that we just never noticed... and it's probably also a matter of degree and circumstance.
- simonh 3y agoI'm not surprised, brains are incredible, even tiny ones in organisms like insects. Is a bird's nest a tool? There's a continuum all the way up from ant nests to rocket ships.