Non-Human Tool Use

Humans are not the only animals to use tools. Chimps have been seen to use various different tools including anvils and hammers, spears and probes and even ravens can use objects around them to solve problems (awesome, short videos here and here).

Slightly less closely related to us than chimps are the sexually legendary bonobos. In a recent study bonobos in zoos and in sanctuaries were shown food hidden underground, underneath heavy objects or in the cavities of long bones. A set of potential tools were then left in their enclosure for them to find a use for. The tools were antlers, short sticks, long ticks and stones. One bonobo modified the sticks to turn them into spears and defensive barriers, another used an angular stone to completely bisect a long bone. About half of the animals observed were able to use the tools in some way with the ones in sanctuaries generally performing better than those in the zoos.

These animals were all captive or semi-captive and now the challenge is to observe similar behaviours in wild individuals; a difficult task as bonobos are only found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and any country with the word democratic in it name is, well, not always conducive to vigorous academic research. If wild bonobos are found using tools then it pushes the trait further back into evolutionary history than previously thought to about 5 million years ago, the time at which bonobos and us humans last shared a common ancestor.