Synonyms
Definition
The tool must not be part of an animal itself, must be not attached to the environment, and must be manipulated by the animal to achieve some beneficial outcome (Beck 1980).
Introduction
Beck’s (1980) definition of tool use can be applied to the cephalopod mollusks. It has been found in two of the three major classes, the octopuses and cuttlefish, though not so far in the squid. Even with the limited examples that we have, tool use by this group touches on the major questions and controversies in the area. This account will evaluate the ecological and phylogenetic constraints on cephalopod tool use, where actions fit at the boundaries of the category as defined and the extent to which their use of tools is linked to cephalopods’ cognitive capacity.
Why Tool Use?
Why would cephalopods use tools, given their tremendous manipulative capacity and flexibility? With their boneless muscular hydrostat movement system (Mather and Alupay 2016), eight...
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References
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Mather, J. (2016). Cephalopod Tool Use. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3173-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3173-1
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