10 Surprising Ways Animals Use Tools Andrew Handley December 29, 2012 Check out our new companion

site: http://knowledgenuts.com What is it that separates humans from the rest of the animals on the planet? Its not our thumbs, or our tendency to wage wars, or the way we pass on knowledge and culture to younger generations. If anything, we just have a few million years head start on some of the more important things. But as researchers are discovering, a lot of species in the animal kingdom are starting to catch up. These ten animals have started using tools as a way to manipulate their environment in some very surprising ways. As a note, we tried to avoid using primates as much as possible, just because monkeys are doing some incredible stuff all over the place and its almost not surprising anymore. 10 Crows Use Science to Reach Worms

Crows have been seen crafting tools and using moving cars to help them get to food. Some birds use water displacement to get hard-to-reach bugs from water. Crows are well known as one of the most intelligent bird species, just behind parrots. Theyve been observed using tools in the wild in a variety of manners, including whittling down sticks to just the right length in order to pull bugs out of logs, and dropping nuts in front of moving cars to crack them open. But their problem solving ability gets even weirder than that. The aptly named Christopher Bird, a researcher at the University of Cambridge, has recently shown that rooks (in the same family as crows) understand how to use stones to raise the level of water in a glass tube to get at food, a principle known as displacement. The rooks were presented with a glass tube partially filled with water in which a worm was floating. When the rooks couldnt reach the worm, they began dropping stones into the water to raise the water level. And it wasnt just randomthe crows were able to calculate how many stones they needed, instead of just trying to get the worm each time they dropped in a new stone.

9 Dolphins Create Sponge Masks as Protection

Clever dolphins fashion masks from sea-sponge to protect their faces when rooting around the sea-bed for food. Dolphins are pretty smart. They display an incredible proficiency in communication, but they usually dont use tools, mostly because theyre already almost perfectly adapted to finding food in their natural habitatsecholocation lets them see pretty much anything moving in the water. But in a surprising display of culinary preference, dolphins in Shark Bay, Australia have started hunting bottom dwelling fish like sandperch because theyre more nutritious. The problem is these fish arent as easy to find through echolocation, forcing the dolphins to root around on the dangerously rocky sea bed for their dinner. The solution: The dolphins have begun ripping up patches of sea sponge, and positioning them over their snouts like a glove. This protects their sensitive rostra from rocks and razor sharp coral while they hunt. When a sandperch is disturbed, it darts away quickly but doesnt immediately rebury itself, giving the dolphin enough time to drop its sponge, surface to get a breath, and dive again to snag the fish. 8 Octopodes Use Siphonophore Tentacles as Weapons

Blanket octopodes tear the legs of venomous siphonophores to use as weapons against their enemies. The blanket octopus is already unusual compared to its octopodes cousins. Instead of using ink, it has a wide membrane net between its tentacles that it can use to make itself appear much bigger, scaring away potential predators. Thats cool or whatever, but the incredible part is that this octopus has been known to rip off the tentacles of the Portuguese Man O War and wield them as weapons like a deep sea version of Whiplash from Ironman 2. The blanket octopus is immune to the siphonophores poison, allowing it to safely handle the stinging tentacles as a defensive tool. 7 Macaques Floss With Human Hair One group of monkeys in Thailand plucks hair from tourists and uses it to floss after eating. Most of the items on this list can be explained through the English proverb, Necessity is the mother of invention. If an animal cant reach its food, it devises a new way to get it. But explain that to the long-tailed macaques of Thailand, who use human hair as dental floss. The bizarre behavior has so far only been found in one group of macaques who live near a particular Buddhist shrine. The monkeys will climb onto the backs of people who visit the shrine and pluck out strands of hair, then run off and spend a few minutes cleaning their teeth. Researchers have been paying attention to these monkeys for some time now, and what theyve noticed is that mothers will actually teach their infants how to floss, slowly going through the motions in front of them, in order to continue this behavior in ensuing generations. What we dont know is WHY they do this, since it doesnt directly lead to any survival benefit. 6 Rodents Use Rakes to Reach Food

Degus similar to chinchillas can use small rakes to get food they cant reach from under a fence. Mice and other rodents are often used to develop models for learning behavior, but until now they have never been taught to use tools. Their paws arent really built for tool manipulation, so rodents are normally used for memory-based tasks (running mazes, pushing buttons, etc.). But researchers at the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research in Japan have been studying the behavior of degus, which are similar to chinchillas. The researchers positioned the degus on one side of a plastic fence with a seed on the other side, just out of reach. Then they gave the degus a small rake, which the rodents used to pull the seed to their side of the fence. Compared to some of the other examples here this isnt amazing by itself, but its unusual just because its the first example to show that rodents have the capacity to understand the use of tools. 5 Herons Craft Lures to Hunt More Easily

Striated herons whittle down twigs to fashion lures to catch fish. A lot of bird species use tools to find food, commonly in the form of twigs or thorns that allow them to reach into holes for grubs. The striated heron, however, uses a more passive approach to tools: These herons have been known to take objects to use as bait, drop them in the water, and then wait for fish to come grab the bait. The lures could be insects, twigs, bread crumbs, or bits of leaf. Whats even more impressive, however, is that striated herons will also create their own lures by whittling down twigs to the proper size, basically manufacturing their own tools to fit the right purpose. Researchers noticed that younger herons arent as adept at tool making, but as they get older they learn from their experiences and begin to make more effective lures.

4 Dresser Crabs Make Their Own Camouflage

Dresser crabs attach pieces of seaweed to hooks on their shell to act as camouflage against predators. While many animals use tools to find food, the dresser crab uses tools to keep from becoming food in one of the oddest behaviors weve observed in nature. The small crab will pull up aquatic plants like seaweed and sponges, and attach them to small hooks on their shells to serve as camouflage. The hooks act like a temporary adhesive, allowing the dresser crab to easily trade its disguise when it enters a new environment, helping it blend in no matter where it goes. If the crab senses danger, it will freeze in place and act like just another piece of seaweed until the danger passes. 3 Gorillas Use Sticks to Gauge Water Depth

Gorillas have been known to use sticks to measure the depth of water before entering ponds or rivers. Just watching primates in the wild shows how intelligent they can be when it comes to solving problems, even without human input to teach them certain behaviors. Tool use inherently involves some sort of capacity for spatial reasoning, and thats more evident than ever in a group of wild gorillas who have been photographed using sticks to measure the depth of pools of water before trying to cross. Researchers observed one female gorilla wading into a pool of water, only to discover that it was deeper than she had thought. She backed out of the pool, found a long tree branch, and then waded back into the pool, poking the ground in front of her to test the depth before each step. Another gorilla carried a log around and dropped it over muddy patches to use as a bridge. 2 The Bolas Spider Fishes For Prey

Bolas spiders fashion fishing rods from their silk to cast at and catch unsuspecting moths. Sometimes nature gives us the capacity to produce our own tools, as is the case with the bolas spider, commonly found in California. Bolas spiders produce the same silk other spiders use to make webs, but they use it in a slightly different way: Female bolas spiders will make a sticky silk ball, which they hurl at flying moths to catch them, reeling in their catch just like a fisherman. To make sure the moths come close enough, bolas spiders have developed the ability to produce the same chemicals which female moths use to signal to male moths when theyre ready to mate. (Warning: That link will give you nightmares). 1 Chimpanzees Hunt With Spears

Fongoli chimps fashion spears with their teeth then hunt in packs to catch their prey for food. Chimpanzees are probably the biggest tool users in the animal kingdom, but Fongoli chimps have taken this to a new extreme: Hunting. With spears. Researchers have been watching a group of chimps in the West African country of Senegal who sharpen sticks with their teeth and go on raiding parties to catch bushbabies and other monkeys for food. The chimpanzees in this region will jab their spears into holes where they think bushbabies might be hiding, not as a probe, but with enough force to skewer any animal caught in the way. Its mostly females who do this, but young chimps are beginning to fashion spears more and more often, which researchers believe is influenced by their tendency to learn from the actions of their mothers. To make the obvious comparison, we did this exact same thing about 2 million years ago.

The subject of animal intelligence has been touched on in a previous list by Andrew Handley and its a subject which is often uncomfortable for those who like to think of humans as a separate, special kind of creature. Unfortunately for these people, it is impossible to deny that animals are intelligentand often much more so than we have generally given them credit for. One of the most startling cognitive abilities demonstrated by animals is their ingenious use of tools. Here are ten examples of animals who have found that nature did not equip them as well as it might haveand who have thus made up the shortfall themselves.

10 Wrasses Use Anvils

We all know how annoying it can be to set our sights on a can of food, only to find the can opener missing. Even worse: a bottle of wine, and no corkscrew. But such frustrations are not limited to humans, of course. Wrasses are a type of fish which have found a way around similar troubles. They generally eat small invertebrates which offer limited resistance, but occasionally they find something which needs a bit of wrasse-wrangling. They have been observed picking up hard-shelled bivalveswhich they would normally not be able to eatand using rocks as anvils in order to shatter their shells.

9 Octopuses Build Mobile Homes Humans are very vertebrate-centric in their conception of the animal hierarchy. But there are many surprisingly intelligent animals to be found among those species lacking backbones; the minds of octopuses, in particular, are being studied rather rigorously at present, because these animals are such good problem solvers. Theyre so clever, in fact, that under UK law, octopuses are considered honorary vertebrates in terms of their legal protections. Octopuses use their supple bodies to slide into tight places in pursuit of food, but a soft body is little protection from predators. The veined octopus has been observed actively solving this vulnerability problem, by digging up coconut shells and using them as shelter. They have been seen squeezing into the empty shells and carrying them as they walk along the seabed, safe from attack. 8 Crows Using Cars

It is well known that crows and their relatives are among the cleverest of birds. They have displayed a complex range of talents, and are now being closely studied. But to claim that crows are using cars? Well, okay, they havent exactly been driving them. But theres strong anecdotal evidence of crows carrying hard nuts onto a road, waiting for a car to drive over them and crack them, and then swooping in to retrieve the food. There is academic debate as to whether this could be a planned behavior on the part of the crowsbut it falls well within the level of intelligence the birds have previously displayed.

7 Assassin Beetles Make Armor

In the brutal struggle of all against all which exists in nature, a good defense can make all the difference between catching prey, and becoming prey yourself. An assassin always needs a good escape planand the assassin bug is no different. This predatory bug feeds on ants and other small insects. When it captures them, it sucks out their insides and keeps the hollow shells. The bug then sticks these husks to its back, and wears them as armor against any predator which comes along. Since the pile of corpses on the bug can grow quite large, the predator is more likely to target this than the assassin bug itself. At this point, the armor will come loose from the bug, leaving it free to scuttle off and live another day. Ablative armor is a fairly new trick in humanitys arsenaland it seems that insects might have got there first. 6 Elephants Use Mirrors

What could be simpler than using a mirror? Nothingat least for us. But animals and very young human children are generally unable to recognize that what they are looking at is a reflection of themselves, rather than another animal. The ability to perceive oneself in a mirror is called the Mirror Test by cognitive scientists. Elephants were tested to see if they had the necessary self-awareness to use mirrors by having marks painted on their heads. Amazingly, when faced with a mirror, they quickly moved their trunks to the mark on themselves, and not to their reflection in the mirror. 5 Sea Otters Use Stones

We have already seen how Wrasses carry their hard-shelled food to rocks, in order to open it. Sea otters have the added benefit of working limbs, and can therefore carry the stones with them. They search the seabed for stones of certain sizes and shapespossibly displaying a certain power of imaginationand then carry the pebbles under their armpits. When the otters catch mollusks too well-sealed to get into, they hammer the mollusks with the stones until they break open, and then eat them. They show an ability to modify their pounding depending on the shape of the stone they are using. 4 Orangutans Use Whistles Some of the abilities weve mentioned already might be considered innate skills, so the most fascinating question remains: is it possible for some animals to learn to use tools? It turns out that the answer is yes. Orangutans seem almost uncannily human in many respectsand their ability to learn is just one of them. When an orangutan is threatened, he will make a whistling noise in order to scare the intruder away. All orangutans will do this. But in certain populations, members have been observed taking leaves and using them to make their whistle louder. This must be a taught behavior, passed down through generations, because it is only observed in certain linked groups of orangutan populationsmaking it all the more impressive. 3 Naked Mole-Rats Use Mouthguards The naked mole-rat seems to be on the wrong side of evolution. Living in colonies in which only one female is allowed to breed, the rest of colony spend their time burrowing to find food. This involves mashing their face into mud until they find something to eat. With the aim of improving their lot, they have devised a digging methodwhich makes their lives a little

more bearable. The mole-rats take a piece of bark or a fragment of plant matter and place it in their mouth. This stops them from inhaling dust as they dig the tunnels with their teeth. 2 Spiders Make Stone Intruder Alarms Corolla spiders live in small burrows in the desert. They emerge to capture any suitable prey that ventures too closea practice which gives them a rather limited hunting range. So in order to increase the area in which they can detect prey, the spiders select seven or eight stones of similar size and shape and arrange them in circle around the entrance to their lair. Offered a choice of stones, they will most often choose those made of quartz. The spiders can detect vibrations through the stonesallowing them to strike at prey outside of their usual range. 1 Phronima Make A Terrifying Papoose

Is there anything more tender than the love of a mother for her children? So what could be more beautiful than watching a mother capture another animal, tear out its innards, and use the hollowed-out husk to carry her babies around in? Thats what the female Phronima does. The Phronima are small invertebrates which live in the sea. When shes ready to lay her eggs, a Phronima catches a salpa small gelatinous creatureand kills it by eating its insides. This leaves a hollow tube in which she can transport her eggs and young ones until they are ready to survive separately.