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15 remarkable animals that use tools

By: Bryan Nelson on Oct. 28, 2009, 10:09 a.m.

Crows and ravens

Photo: By Bruce A Clifton/Shutterstock

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Crows and ravens

Aside from primates, crows and ravens show the most ingenuity in the animal kingdom. Their many clever tricks include manipulating sticks and twigs to extract insects from logs, dropping walnuts in front of moving cars to crack them, and even using scrap paper as a rake or sponge.

A female chimpanzee holding a stick in the jungle

Crows and ravens

An elephant paints what appears to be a self-portrait.

A Satin Bowerbird stands on a pile of dirt

A chimp uses a stick to get balls out of a box

Two bottlenose dolphins play with a sponge

Egyptian vulture standing on a rock

A small common octopus in an aquarium tank

A woodpecker finch stands on a mossy stump in a forest

Leaf cutter ants carry leaves up a rope

Striated heron with a fish in its bill

A sea otter holds a rock in its paws.

An archer fish in an aquarium tank

A decorator crab covered in various sea floor materials

A wet beaver sits on its own tail

A black palm cockatoo perched on a tree limb

Crows and ravens

Aside from primates, crows and ravens show the most ingenuity in the animal kingdom. Their many clever tricks include manipulating sticks and twigs to extract insects from logs, dropping walnuts in front of moving cars to crack them, and even using scrap paper as a rake or sponge.