You read that right. Apparently scientists at the Oxford University made the startling discovery that crows are able to invent tools required to achieve a goal, plus, use them in a ordered sequence if necessary. The animals seem to be able to use up to three tools to accomplish something.
This is extremely interesting to me as there seems to be a very intelligent chain of thought in those birds’ heads. Currently no non-human animal has shown these characteristics (inventing tools and/or making new tools with invented tools) and raises serious questions about these kind of animals.
New experiments by Oxford University scientists reveal that New Caledonian crows can spontaneously use up to three tools in the correct sequence to achieve a goal, something never before observed in non-human animals without explicit training.
[...]
In the wild, New Caledonian crows use a range of tool types for extracting invertebrate prey from holes and crevices, and in captivity, they have been shown to make, or select, tools to retrieve food rewards. In previous experiments, the Oxford team reported that a crow (named ‘Betty’) was capable of spontaneously inventing new tool designs according to what was required by the tasks. In all these cases, however, objects were used to act on pieces of food.
But not only that – the article further states:
In their new study, the Oxford scientists tested seven captive New Caledonian crows on a range of tasks requiring the use of up to three different tools in a sequence to retrieve food. Five crows successfully used tools in a sequence (four from their very first trial), and four repeatedly solved the most demanding three-tool condition
It is indeed a mind-boggling study and development. And if you don’t believe this, or my words, well then watch a crow inventing a hook in order to get some food.
O hai, I haz inventd a hook to gets foodz. WOW!!
To me this is extremely interesting and I think I gonna have a closer eye on these studies.
Original article:
Physorg.com: Crows can use ‘up to three tools’
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