By STEVE CONNOR - INDEPENDENT.CO.UK
Added: Wed, 05 Aug 2009 23:00:00 UTC

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/aesops-fable-this-one-turns-out-to-be-true-1767920.html


One of Aesop's fables describing a thirsty crow which was able to drink from a half-full pitcher after raising the water level by adding pebbles may have had a basis in real life.

Scientists have found that rooks – a member of the crow family – were able to figure out how to raise the water level in a laboratory container by dropping stones inside to retrieve a tasty worm floating on the surface.

Four different rooks, called Cook, Fry, Connelly and Monroe, quickly discovered that they could raise the water level in a transparent container by adding stones, just like the mythical crow in the fable, which illustrates the virtue of ingenuity and how necessity is the mother of invention.

The only other animal shown to be able to perform the same task is the orang-utan, which was able to grasp a floating peanut by spitting water into a tube. Scientists believe the demonstration shows that, in many respects, rooks and crows have comparable intelligence to primates when it comes to the use of tools.
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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/aesops-fable-this-one-turns-out-to-be-true-1767920.html


A related article in a TED posting from 2008
http://richarddawkins.net/articleComments,2589,The-amazing-intelligence-of-crows,Joshua-Klein-TED-Talks,page1

TAGGED: BEHAVIOR