Tool use among non-human animals is more widespread than you might think.
Articles on Tool use
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The only other species known to do this are humans and chimpanzees.
We used brain imaging techniques to show these two activities engage the same region of the brain. Then we wanted to find out more.
Capuchin monkeys in Brazil use big stones to crush the shells of nuts they want to eat. An experiment in the field investigated how these monkeys prepare to use new, unfamiliar tools.
Species that use tools aren’t necessarily better at solving problems than species that don’t.
We can’t observe the brain activity of extinct human species. But we can observe modern brains doing the things that our distant ancestors did, looking for clues about how ancient brains worked.
New, fascinating observations about the behaviour of wild chimpanzees showed that they can apply a complex technique to access honey.
Australian birds are arguably among the smartest in the world, displaying complex behaviours comparable to those observed in great apes.
The use of tools is one example of the growing capacity for analytical thought and invention in apes and early humans. The earliest flint-knapped stone cutting tools date from around 2.6 million years…
Top contributors
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Researcher in Cognitive Zoology, Lund University
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Former Doctoral student Department of Primatology
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Postdoctoral Fellow in Cognitive Zoology, Lund University
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Senior Lecturer, University of Zurich
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Emeritus Professor in Animal Behaviour, University of New England
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Postdoctoral Research Fellow, The Stone Age Institute and The Center for Research into the Anthropological Foundations of Technology, Indiana University
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PhD Student in Anthropology and Integrative Conservation, University of Georgia
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Professor of Evolutionary and Conservation Biology, Australian National University
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Researcher at INSERM U1028 Centre de Recherche en Neuroscience de Lyon - Impact team, Karolinska Institutet
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Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1
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Lecturer in Animal Ecology, University of the Sunshine Coast