Tool Use Flashcards
Folk physics
Allows understanding of interactions without detailed knowledge of physics and equations
Examples of tool use in: Dolphins Octopus Chimps Crows Gorillas
Recruit marine sponges to protect their faces when foraging (on lily seen in females because aggressive males dominate areas of good food)
Coconut shell as a house
Long sticks/grasses to fish for termites
Sticks to measure depth of water before crossing
Why is tool use rare?
Animals with cognitive abilities required are rare
Definition is strict
Tool use in chimps and orangutans but rarely gorillas
Chimps and orangutans do lots of extractive foraging which lends itself to tool use
Gorillas are grazers so don’t have experiences that lead to tool use
Chimps use tools but this is rare, why?
Ecology rarely presents task that requires tool use
Why are many prodigious bird tool users island species?
Avoidance of competition from woodpeckers
Woodpeckers normally dominate but other species able to thrive on islands
Why is tool use only seen in capuchins in arid, open areas?
Food scarcity and stability of rocks (anvils) means need seeds and can use the anvils to crush them
Why is beaver tool use not impressive?
Moving an unattached branch to reach another not impressive because already know moving branches is part of their skill set for dam building
Gorillas
Don’t use tools very often but build new nest everyday, often high in trees
Requires some knowledge of folk physics
Connectedness bias
Animals assume that if two objects are touching, they are one object
