Rapid development of tool use as a strategy to predate invasive land snails

Márcio A Efe,João Marcelo Holderbaum,Fábio Nunes De Paiva,Richard J Ladle

doi:10.1007/s10164-014-0412-6

Márcio A Efe, João Marcelo Holderbaum + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-014-0412-6

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Abstract

Abstract There are few examples of facultative tool use in animals under natural conditions. We provide the first description of tool use in great antshrikes (Taraba major), which were observed using stone anvils to break the shells of the land snail (Achatina fulica). This behavior is almost certainly of extremely recent origin given the lack of previous reports of tool use in T. major and the very recent (1980s) introduction of A. fulica into Brazil. Tool use in this particular population is probably a flexible behavioral trait that arose in response to the high density of exotic snails in this locality.

Highlights

Tool use is infrequent but taxonomically widespread among vertebrates (Bentley-Condit and Smith 2010; Seed and Byrne 2010; Shumaker et al 2011), being found in three phyla and seven classes of animals (Bentley-Condit and Smith 2010)
We provide the first description of tool use in great antshrikes (Taraba major), which were observed using stone anvils to break the shells of the land snail (Achatina fulica)
This behavior is almost certainly of extremely recent origin given the lack of previous reports of tool use in T. major and the very recent (1980s) introduction of A. fulica into Brazil

Summary

Introduction

Tool use is infrequent but taxonomically widespread among vertebrates (Bentley-Condit and Smith 2010; Seed and Byrne 2010; Shumaker et al 2011), being found in three phyla and seven classes of animals (Bentley-Condit and Smith 2010). We provide the first description of tool use in great antshrikes (Taraba major), which were observed using stone anvils to break the shells of the land snail (Achatina fulica). This behavior is almost certainly of extremely recent origin given the lack of previous reports of tool use in T. major and the very recent (1980s) introduction of A. fulica into Brazil.

Results

Conclusion