First Invertebrate Documented Using Tools

BBC News, Octopus snatches coconut and runs:

Tool use was once thought to be an exclusively human skill, but this behaviour has now been observed in a growing list of primates, mammals and birds.

The researchers say their study suggests that these coconut-grabbing octopuses should now be added to these ranks.

Professor Tom Tregenza, an evolutionary ecologist from the University of Exeter, UK, and another author of the paper, said: “A tool is something an animal carries around and then uses on a particular occasion for a particular purpose.

Prompting my sister-in-law to comment:

It’s funny, isn’t it, how some Christians want to think stuff like this diminishes us or God… I think it just makes him seem even more awesome.

As for me: “Honestly, thinking we were the only animals to use tools was extremely presumptuous.”