Fratercula arctica: Tool use observed in Atlantic Puffins, the first known example of this behaviour in a Seabird.
[sciencythoughts.blogspot.com]
The evolution of tool use is one of the most enduring puzzles in behavioural biology. Investigating the distribution of tool use across different species is key to understanding its adaptive value and hence its evolution in the natural world, and ultimately to understanding the evolutionary history of our own species. Tool use is the exertion of control over an object with the goal of altering the physical properties of another object, substance, surface or medium, or controlling the flow of information between the tool user and the environment or other organisms in the environment. Tools can be used for several purposes, mainly related to feeding, defence, aggression, social displays, or physical maintenance. True tool use requires manipulation of an object detached from the substrate, unlike borderline tool use where the tool remains part of the substrate. Tool use is a rare but phylogenetically widespread behaviour in the wild. It is most common in Birds and Mammals, mainly in the Passeriformes and Primates, some of which use or even manufacture tools to complete complex tasks. Tool use appears to span a continuum between two broad types: genetically based behavioural specialisations, inflexible and applied in a single context, and more flexible behavioural innovations, whose development may also rely partially on genetics but which can be applied creatively to new contexts. The ability of animals to use tools creatively has been linked to their cognitive capacities. Animal tool use is most frequent, and has been most discussed, in a need-for-resources framework, mainly related to feeding. Using tools for physical maintenance is also relatively common; for example, chimpanzees use tools to groom, scratch, or wipe themselves. In birds, captive Parrots have been reported to scratch with sticks, but to date the only avian tool use for physical maintenance reported in the wild is 'anting', depositing Ants on one’s plumage, which is observed in many species, but mostly Passerines.