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New Caledonian crow
Wild crows in New Caledonia make hooks out of forked twigs and use them to pull invertebrates from holes in wood. They also cut strips from pandanus leaves, a different material that gives them a tool with a barbed edge.
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Amphioctopus marginatus
The veined octopus has been filmed carrying coconut shell halves across the seafloor in Indonesia. It holds the shells beneath its body and walks awkwardly on the ends of its arms. A half shell becomes a hiding place, and two halves can close around the animal.
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Chimpanzee
In the Goualougo Triangle in the Republic of the Congo, chimpanzees can use a sturdy stick to open a passage into a termite nest. Then they dip in a flexible plant stem with a frayed end. The brush gathers termites as the chimpanzee draws it out.
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Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin
Some dolphins in Shark Bay, Western Australia, wear a marine sponge over the tip of their snout while searching the seafloor for prey. The sponge may protect the snout as it probes the bottom. The habit runs mainly from mothers to offspring in this population.
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Sea otter
Southern sea otters in California use rocks or other hard objects to get at prey inside tough shells. A study that followed individuals found that frequent tool users could get through larger or harder prey and showed less tooth damage.
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Black-striped capuchin
Bearded capuchins at Fazenda Boa Vista in Brazil set palm nuts on a hard surface and pound them with a heavy stone. A rock or a log can serve as the anvil. Young animals can handle nuts and stones at the same sites that experienced monkeys use.
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Woodpecker finch
On the Galápagos Islands, woodpecker finches use twigs and cactus spines to reach insects in holes and crevices. A bird may shorten a twig or remove its side branches before probing, giving it a better fit where the beak can’t reach.
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Macaca fascicularis
On islands in Thailand, some long-tailed macaques crack open oysters with stones while the shells are still attached to rock. The same populations can use heavier stones on some loose foods. What they choose depends in part on what needs opening.
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Blackspot tuskfish
A blackspot tuskfish on the southern Great Barrier Reef was photographed gripping a cockle in its mouth and striking it against a rock. The fish kept hitting the same hard surface until the shell broke. Here the fish moves the prey and the rock serves as a fixed anvil.
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Egyptian vulture
An intact ostrich egg is hard to open with a beak. In East Africa, Egyptian vultures have been observed picking up stones in their bills and throwing them at the shell. The stone delivers the blow; the bird can feed once the shell breaks.
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Green heron
At a canal in Port Everglades, Florida, one green heron used pieces of bread or popcorn that visitors had dropped into the water. The floating morsels drew fish close to its perch. The bird would wait and strike if a fish small enough to swallow came within reach.
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Sumatran orangutan
At Suaq Balimbing in Sumatra, orangutans push sticks into openings in tough Neesia fruit to get at the seeds. Sticks also help them reach insects and other food in tree holes. Researchers have documented those uses in this wild population.
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Palm cockatoo
On Australia’s Cape York Peninsula, male palm cockatoos shape sticks or seedpods and grip them in a foot. A male hits a hollow limb with the tool to make a series of beats during a display. Different birds have been observed making different styles of drumstick.
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Aphaenogaster fulva
Workers of this North American ant have been observed dropping tiny pieces of mud or leaves onto soft food. After the pieces soak up food, the workers carry them back to the colony. What started as debris becomes a way to move a meal that’s otherwise hard to carry.
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