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Chimpanzees are not the only great apes to develop tools without tutoring. Chimpanzees are not the only great apes to develop tools without tutoring., Author Affiliations: A Sumatran orangutan named Padana raps nuts with a log 'hammer' atop a tree stump 'anvil', a technique she invented herself. Credit: Claudio Tennie Padana the orangutan cracking [...]

Cottontop tamarin subadults with only minimal experimental experiences, and no experience with tools or tool-like tasks are tested and also subadult common marmosets Callithrix jacchus is tested. Results indicate that in the absence of any experience, neither tamarins nor marmosets are able to discriminate between functionally relevant and irrelevant features of a tool.

Research into the cognitive behaviour of Asian elephants investigates the use and modification of branches for fly switching.

Scientists studying wild orangutans in swampy Sumatra have discovered that the red apes in the region make tools for use in the wild. Previously, the only primate besides humans to make tools in the wild had been known to be chimps, although other primates have used them in captivity. The red apes were observed to construct a variety of tools for foraging, with individual tools for tasks, including many for getting fruit or honey. Each tool would be modified until it perfectly suited the job at hand. Scientists suspect that orangutans have used tools in certain geographical locations only to cease doing so later on.

New Caledonian crows were observed from Nov. 1992 to Mar. 1995 to study their tool behavior. Results belie the existing claim that tool behavior in wild birds is mostly stereotyped and tool manufacture is virtually nil. The New Caledonian crows used and manufactured two different types of hook tool for predation purposes, namely, hooked-twig and stepped-cut pandanus leaf. Tool manufacture among crows exhibited features alien to tool use in wild nonhuman animals, namely, a high degree of standardization, distinctly discrete tool types distinguishable through shape, and the use of hooks.

The effects of inheritance and individual learning on twig tool usage of New Caledonian crows are presented.

Tool use and manufacture among humans have been taken to connote culture. Although tool use was first observed among the Homo habilis, standardization and sophistication arose among Home erectus. In free-living animals, only chimpanzees have so far exhibited standardization of their tools. Recently, however, the discovery of tools used by New Caledonian wild crows revealed that birds, like humans and chimpanzees, are also capable of tool manufacture. However, a standardized tool manufacture can only be a hallmark of culture if the tool has been modified prior, not after, to usage.