Animals That Use Objects As Work Tools

Work tools are objects that have always been attributed to the human being, the only species that makes use of them. However, nowadays it is easier and easier to become aware of cases where some kind of tool is used by animals.

The differences between the animal world and the human world seem to be less and less, and the fact of using work tools to perform daily tasks is no exception. This behavior was first discovered with chimpanzees. Let’s find out how.

Animals that use tools: primates

While researching this species in Gombe Stream National Park, Africa,  a young Jane Goodall  found herself observing a chimpanzee using sticks to “fish” termites from a nest.

It was only the first of a long series of discoveries; in fact, from that moment other ways of using work tools, and even manufacturing tools, were noted: the primates themselves, for example, remove leaves from branches to catch insects.

Primates are undoubtedly the animals that have been repeatedly seen using various tools, especially the great apes. In fact, most of them are afraid of water, and make extensive use of branches to check the depth of rivers and lakes.

The use of mills or nutcrackers improvised with stones, or even the manufacture of sharp spears for hunting, are other discoveries worthy of a science fiction film. The fact that these techniques are all passed on to future generations signals the fact that we are facing a true cultural phenomenon.

Other primates, such as the cynomolus macaque, use plant fibers, feathers, or even human hair to keep their teeth clean, using these tools as dental floss.

Cetaceans, animals with many unknowns

As for cetaceans, especially dolphins, there are many unknowns regarding their skills in the use of work tools, since they have the disadvantage of not having hands. However, this hasn’t stopped them from using some tools in their favor.

Shark Bay dolphins, for example, use sponges to protect their snouts. These cetaceans use sponges as bumpers to avoid being injured by stones or corals as they search for food on the seabed.

In fact, dolphins have been observed to teach each other this behavior. This ability of the dolphins has served the United States military to defuse mines, and we cannot help but wonder what they would be capable of if they had our skills.

Other mammals that use tools

Elephants are among the most intelligent animals, and others are known for their ability to use tools and utensils. For example, they use the branches to scare insects or to scratch themselves, and are able to shape the branches into the shape that suits them best for a given task.

It has even been observed that pachyderms are able to make natural plugs by chewing the bark of trees, to ensure that the underground water lasts as long as possible without evaporating; they also learned to throw objects to destroy electrified barriers.

Another curious example of animals that use tools are sea otters, which use rocks to break shellfish, placing them on their belly to hit them while swimming in the sea. The use of objects at more basic levels has also been observed in animals such as bears, badgers and mongooses.

Do birds use work tools?

Even some birds are capable of using tools; among them, the most experienced are crows and other similar species, such as the nutcracker or the crow. These, for example, are able to leave the nuts on the road for cars to break them.

This behavior resembles that of another bird, a necrophagous raptor known as a bearded vulture, which drops the bones of the carrion it feeds on so that they break and can reach the marrow.

Some authors even go so far as to consider the making of nests as a great example of fabrication in the animal kingdom, in which case we could consider almost all birds to be heavy users of such resources.

To continue, however, to mention more evident cases, how not to mention the woodpecker finch, a bird of the Galápagos islands that uses small branches or cactus thorns as an extension of its beak, to search and pick up its prey. Some species of parrot have even been seen breaking shells with stones to get calcium.

All these examples are nothing more than further proof of how similar we are to the rest of the animals.