Cows Can Use Tools. Are We Underestimating How Smart They Are? (sentientmedia.org)

submitted 1 week ago by usernamesAreTricky@lemmy.ml to c/science@lemmy.world

24 comments fedilink hide all child comments

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] ObtuseDoorFrame@lemmy.zip 0 points 1 week ago

It's legitimately depressing that this comment has this many upvotes. This is a science community and they're upvoting a scientifically incorrect statement.

Did you read the article? Cows now occupy a category of tool users that only has two other animals in it: humans and chimpanzees. The category is multipurpose tool use. In order to be placed in this group the animal needs to use one tool to perform different functions.

Walking onto an automatic milking device is an entirely different category of intelligence.

[-] Archangel1313@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 week ago

Yeah...no. This cow didn't "make" this tool. It just used a tool that was readily available. It didn't modify it in any way, in order to specifically accomplish this task.

THAT is the criteria for advanced tool use.

What this cow is doing, is extremely common in nature. It's found something in its environment that is useful. It's literally using a stick to scratch an itch. That's even less evolved than a bird building a nest, or ants digging a network of tunnels.