Cow tools

"Far Side fans might recall a classic 1982 cartoon called Cow Tools, featuring a cow standing next to a jumble of strange objects —the joke being that cows don’t use tools. 


"According to a new paper published in the journal Current Biology, this is a form of multipurpose tool use and suggests that the cognitive capabilities of cows have been underestimated by scientists.

"As previously reported, tool use was once thought to be one of the defining features of humans, but examples of it were eventually observed in primates and other mammals. 

"Dolphins can toss objects as a form of play which some scientists consider to be a type of tool use, particularly when it involves another member of the same species. Potential purposes include a means of communication, social bonding, or aggressiveness.


"But the biggest surprise came when birds were observed using tools in the wild. After all, birds are the only surviving dinosaurs, and mammals and dinosaurs hadn’t shared a common ancestor for hundreds of millions of years. 

"In the wild, observed tool use has been limited to the corvids (crows and jays), which show a variety of other complex behaviors —they’ll remember your face and recognize the passing of their dead."


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