From: rhinoceros (rhinoceros@freemail.gr)
Date: Thu Aug 08 2002 - 19:11:52 MDT
A pun? Nah, this is Betty, not Joe.
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Crow reveals talent for technology
19:00 08 August 02
NewScientist.com news service
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992651
The remarkable toolmaking talent of a New Caledonian crow called Betty has challenged the chimpanzee's reputation as the most proficient toolmaker in the animal world.
The bird, one of two kept at Oxford University's zoology field station, fashioned a hook from an ordinary piece of wire - something even a chimp cannot manage.
Betty uses a hook she fashioned from a piece of wire (Photo: Science)
This species of crow are remarkably adept at both using and making tools. "It's incredibly impressive for something with such a small brain," says Jackie Chappell, one of the scientists studying the birds' behaviour.
In their home on the Pacific archipelago of New Caledonia, the crows make and use a range of tools including hooks, which they use to extract prey from cracks and crevices. But Betty has now shown that she can design and manufacture a tool from materials with which she has no previous experience. This is unheard of in any other animals, including chimps, say the researchers.
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