Which animal makes a tool with a stick to scrape insects from a hole in a tree or a log of wood?

Orangutan. Orangutans strip leaves from a branch and use the resulting stick to scrape insects out of tree holes and logs, a well-documented tool-making behaviour. Read more: Animal Tool Use.

Chimpanzees use twigs to 'fish' for which insect from mounds?

Termites. Chimpanzees strip leaves from twigs and lower them into termite mounds, eating the termites that climb onto the twig — a classic example of tool use in primates. Read more: Animal Tool Use.

Sea otters use flat stones as tools for what purpose?

Cracking open shellfish. Sea otters dive for a flat stone, then rest it on their chest while floating and use it as an anvil to crack open shellfish like mussels and clams. Read more: Animal Tool Use.

Which bird species is known for bending twigs into hook shapes to extract grubs from crevices?

New Caledonian Crow. New Caledonian Crows bend twigs into hook shapes to extract grubs from crevices, among the most sophisticated tool-making behaviours documented in any bird species. Read more: Animal Tool Use.

In Shark Bay, Australia, some bottlenose dolphins carry a sea sponge over their beak for what purpose?

To protect their beak while foraging on sandy seafloors. Some Shark Bay dolphins carry a sea sponge over their rostrum like a glove, protecting it while foraging along abrasive, sandy seafloors, a skill passed down through generations. Read more: Animal Tool Use.

Animal Tool Use

A crow bends a twig into a hook. A dolphin wears a sponge like a glove. Which animals really use tools, and how do scientists decide?

A Bornean orangutan. The insect-tool studies below include Sumatran orangutans. Photo: Julielangford, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

At a Glance

Four facts to hold on to.

Test

An outside object, controlled for a goal.

Making

Changing the object before use.

UPSC 2023

Stick to scrape insects: orangutan.

2026

Veronika the cow used a brush two ways.

Tool useHolding or controlling an outside object to reach a goal.

Tool makingShaping an object before using it.

CultureA habit that others learn and keep.

InnovationA new behaviour appearing for the first time.

In this lesson

An Object, a Goal, and Control
Tools Beyond the Great Apes
Previous Year Questions
Learning, Culture and Sound Evidence
One Cow, Two Ends of a Brush

An Object, a Goal, and Control

Must Know

A useful test for tool use

Researchers use several definitions. This lesson uses a handled-object test.
Outside object? A loose stick, stone or sponge can qualify. A claw or trunk is a body part.
Controlled for a goal? The animal aims or moves it to get food, scratch or protect itself.
Changed before use? If yes, it made the tool.
Counts: a crow shapes a twig and probes a hole. A dolphin carries a sponge while searching the seabed.
Does not count: a bird using only its beak. A cow rubbing on a fixed tree.
Sources: review of tool-use definitions, study of definitions and Vienna vet university on the cow test.

Using is not making

Use: pick up a stone and break a shell.
Make: strip leaves from a twig, then use it to reach insects.
Making means shaping an object for a task.
A ready-made object can still be a tool.

A case story: the twig that did not fit

Five captive Sumatran orangutans faced holes in an artificial termite mound. Food was hidden inside.
Three adults often stripped leaves and twigs from a branch and pushed it into a hole.
When it did not fit, they changed the tool or their grip.
A young female often reused tools the adults left.
This does not prove every orangutan uses tools. Wild Sumatran orangutans have used twigs at tree holes too.
Sources: 2004 orangutan experiment and field study of young wild orangutans.

True or False: Orangutans stripping leaves off a branch to make an insect-scraping stick counts as making a tool, not just using one.

Tools Beyond the Great Apes

Good to Know

Six well-studied examples

Animal	What it does
Chimpanzee	Uses a twig to collect termites. Young ones take years to improve.
New Caledonian crow	Shapes a hooked twig to pull food from holes. Hooks can improve success.
Sea otter	Uses a rock or shell to open hard prey. A field study linked this to less tooth damage.
Shark Bay dolphin	Carries a sponge over its beak while foraging. Young often learn from their mothers.
Asian elephant	Uses a branch to swat flies or scratch. Some modify the branch first.
Aphaenogaster ant	Carries small debris to liquid food, then brings the soaked pieces home.

These actions use objects in different ways.
They do not show every member of a species behaves alike.
Primary studies: chimpanzee skills, crow hooks, sea otters, dolphin sponges, elephant branches and ants.

Why an object helps

A hooked twig reaches food a crow’s beak may miss.
A sponge may shield a dolphin’s beak on rough ground.
A hard object can break shells and spare an otter’s teeth.
The benefit depends on the setting. A tool can take time to find, make or learn.

True or False: New Caledonian crows bend twigs into hook shapes to extract grubs from crevices.

Exam Edge

Previous Year Questions

UPSC 2023 tested the orangutan.

UPSC 2023Which animal makes a stick tool to scrape insects from a tree or log hole? The answer is the orangutan. Chimpanzees also use twigs, but for termite fishing. Match the exact action in the question. View the question.

True or False: The stick-scraping-insects-from-a-tree-hole behaviour tested in UPSC CSP 2023 belongs to chimpanzees, not orangutans.

Learning, Culture and Sound Evidence

Great to Know

Instinct and learning

An animal may be born ready to explore objects. Practice still improves its skill.
Innovation means a new behaviour appears.
Culture needs evidence that others learn and keep using it.
In Shark Bay, sponge use often passes from mother dolphin to young.
Researchers tested social learning against genes and habitat.
Sources: chimpanzee skill study and dolphin culture analysis.

What would convince a scientist?

Watch repeatedly. Does it use the object for the same task again?
Compare outcomes. Does the object help more than going without?
Change the test. Does it select or adjust a tool when conditions change?
Track learning. Do the young copy others, or does habitat explain it?

One viral clip suggests a question. Repeated observation and fair tests give stronger evidence.

What it tells us about evolution

Tools can open new foods or reduce strain.
Comparing tool use across species helps compare problem solving and learning.
It does not rank animals on one scale of intelligence.
Do not call an animal “human-like” for using one object.

Think it through: is a young dolphin carrying a sponge like its mother proof of culture?

It is a clue, not proof. Mother and young also share genes and habitat. Researchers compare many dolphins and test other explanations. The Shark Bay evidence supports social learning.

True or False: Elephants have been observed using sticks and branches as flyswatters and to scratch hard-to-reach spots.

One Cow, Two Ends of a Brush

Current Affairs

A Current Biology study appeared in January 2026.
It examined Veronika, a cow on a small Austrian farm.
Researchers offered her a deck brush in repeated trials.
She used the bristles on firmer body areas.
For softer areas she often used the smooth handle.
That is flexible use of one object for two jobs.
It documents one cow. It does not prove all cows use tools.
The authors called the finding new for non-primate mammals.
Sources: Current Biology study and the university’s account.

True or False: Veronika the cow used the same side of the brush regardless of which part of her body she was scratching.

True or False: Before Veronika’s 2026 study, flexible tool use had been documented only in chimpanzees among non-human species.

Quick Q&A

What is the tool-use test?

An outside object, controlled for a goal.

What is tool making?

Changing the object before use.

Who scrapes insects with a stick?

The orangutan (UPSC 2023).

What does culture need?

Evidence that others learn it.

What did Veronika show?

Flexible use of one brush.

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