title: On the evolutionary and ontogenetic origins of tool-oriented behaviour in New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides).
abstract: New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides) are prolific tool users in captivity and in the wild, and have an inherited predisposition to express tool-oriented behaviours. To further understand the evolution and development of tool use, we compared the development of object manipulation in New Caledonian crows and common ravens (Corvus corax), which do not routinely use tools. We found striking qualitative similarities in the ontogeny of tool-oriented behaviour in New Caledonian crows and food-caching behaviour in ravens. Given that the common ancestor of New Caledonian crows and ravens was almost certainly a caching species, we therefore propose that the basic action patterns for tool use in New Caledonian crows may have their evolutionary origins in caching behaviour. Noncombinatorial object manipulations had similar frequencies in the two species. However, frequencies of object combinations that are precursors to functional behaviour increased in New Caledonian crows and decreased in ravens throughout the study period, ending 6 weeks post-fledging. These quantitative observations are consistent with the hypothesis that New Caledonian crows develop tool-oriented behaviour because of an increased motivation to perform object combinations that facilitate the necessary learning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK.
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kenward
authors.affiliation: Konrad Lorenz Research Station, Fischerau 11, A-4645 Grünau, Austria.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schloegl
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rutz
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK.
authors.forename: Alexander A S
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Weir
authors.affiliation: Konrad Lorenz Research Station, Fischerau 11, A-4645 Grünau, Austria.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bugnyar
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK.
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kacelnik
keywords: caching; corvid; evolution; ontogeny; ravens; tool use