Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine, Medical University of Vienna and University of Vienna, Veterinärplatz 1, 1210, Vienna, Austria.
German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Göttingen, Germany.
Sci Rep. 2022 Jan 27;12(1):1510. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-05529-9.
Composite tool use (using more than one tool simultaneously to achieve an end) has played a significant role in the development of human technology. Typically, it depends on a number of specific and often complex spatial relations and there are thus very few reported cases in non-human animals (e.g., specific nut-cracking techniques in chimpanzees and capuchin monkeys). The innovative strategies underlying the innovation and spread of tool manufacture and associative tool use (using > 1 tools) across tool using animals is an important milestone towards a better understanding of the evolution of human technology. We tested Goffin's cockatoos on a composite tool problem, the 'Golf Club Task', that requires the use of two objects in combination (one used to control the free movement of a second) to get a reward. We demonstrate that these parrots can innovate composite tool use by actively controlling the position of the end effector and movement of both objects involved in a goal directed manner. The consistent use of different techniques by different subjects highlights the innovative nature of the individual solutions. To test whether the solution could be socially transmitted, we conducted a second study, which provided only tentative evidence for emulative learning. To our knowledge, this indicates that the cognitive preconditions for composite tool use have also evolved outside the primate lineage.
组合工具使用（同时使用多种工具来实现一个目标）在人类技术的发展中发挥了重要作用。通常，它依赖于一系列特定且通常复杂的空间关系，因此在非人类动物中很少有报道（例如，黑猩猩和卷尾猴的特定坚果开裂技术）。创新的策略是基础在工具制造和联想工具使用（使用超过 1 个工具）在使用工具的动物中的传播，这是更好地理解人类技术进化的重要里程碑。我们在“高尔夫俱乐部任务”上测试了戈芬凤头鹦鹉的复合工具问题，该任务需要组合使用两个物体（一个用于控制第二个物体的自由运动）来获得奖励。我们证明，这些鹦鹉可以通过主动控制末端执行器的位置和目标导向的两个物体的运动来创新复合工具的使用。不同个体使用不同技术的一致性突出了个体解决方案的创新性。为了测试该解决方案是否可以通过社会传播，我们进行了第二项研究，该研究仅提供了模仿学习的初步证据。据我们所知，这表明组合工具使用的认知前提也已经在灵长类动物之外进化出来了。
