New Caledonian crows plan for specific future tool use
Open accessAbstract
The ability to plan for future events is one of the defining features of human intelligence. Whether non-human animals can plan for specific future situations remains contentious: despite a sustained research effort over the last two decades, there is still no consensus on this question. Here, we show that New Caledonian crows can use tools to plan for specific future events. Crows learned a temporal sequence where they were (a) shown a baited apparatus, (b) 5 min later given a choice of five objects and (c) 10 min later given access to the apparatus. At test, these crows were presented with one of two tool–apparatus combinations. For each combination, the crows chose the right tool for the right future task, while ignoring previously useful tools and a low-value food item. This study establishes that planning for specific future tool use can evolve via convergent evolution, given that corvids and humans shared a common ancestor over 300 million years ago, and offers a route to mapping the planning capacities of animals.
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In a preregistered 'spoon test' experiment, New Caledonian crows were demonstrated to retain representations of various possible future scenarios, derived from previously acquired information, and then perform specific actions at present to plan for different possibilities.
“in a preregistered ‘spoon test’ [4] experiment, designed by leading researchers on opposing sides of the debate regarding the human uniqueness of mental time travel (namely, Clayton and Suddendorf), New Caledonian crows were demonstrated to retain representations of various possible future scenarios, derived from previously acquired information, and then perform specific actions at present to plan”
From Is episodic-like memory <i>like</i> episodic memory? (2024) · cites this paper as [50]
These ape studies were conducted without adequate controls to rule out simple associative explanations, unlike the New Caledonian crow study.
“these studies were importantly conducted without adequate controls to rule out simple associative explanations [169], as were implemented in the New Caledonian crow study ([50]; but see [170]).”
From Is episodic-like memory <i>like</i> episodic memory? (2024) · cites this paper as [50]
Overall, the strongest evidence that currently exists for future planning in non-human animals comes from corvids, which were also the original animal models for episodic-like memory.
“the strongest evidence that exists currently [50,164] comes from corvids who were also the original animal models for episodic-like memory [52]”
From Is episodic-like memory <i>like</i> episodic memory? (2024) · cites this paper as [50]
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References 39 · Cited by 66
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- [17]Tulving E 2005 Episodic memory and autonoesis: uniquely human. In The missing link in cognition (eds Terrace H, Metcalfe J), pp. 4– 56. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
- [24]Osvath M 2018 RE: On rhetoric and empirical science. Science eLetters. See https://science.sciencemag.org/content/357/6347/202/tab-e-letters.
- Authors
- Boeckle, M., Schiestl, M., Frohnwieser, A., Gruber, R., Miller, R., Suddendorf, T., Gray, R. D., Taylor, A. H., & Clayton, N. S.
- Affiliations
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- University of Veterinary Sciences Brno (CZ)
- University of Auckland (NZ)
- The University of Queensland (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Boeckle, M.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
- Publisher
- The Royal Society
- Published
- 2020-11-04
- Volume
- 287
- Issue
- 1938
- Pages
- 20201490
- ISSN
- 0080-4649 (ISSN-L)
- 0962-8452
- 1471-2954
- PMC
- PMC7735258
- OpenAlex
- W3097048761
- Cited by
- 66
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 7
- FWCI
- 7.11
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Apollo (University of Cambridge) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Apollo (cc-by)
- Funders
- Royal Society of New Zealand Rutherford Discovery Fellowship and a Prime Minister's McDiarmid Emerging Scientist Prize
- FP7 Ideas: European Research Council (European Research Council under the European Union)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
- Keywords
- New Caledonian crow, tool use, temporal sequence learning, tool selection, convergent evolution, animal cognition, Corvidae
- MeSH terms
- Animals, New Caledonia, Crows, Tool Use Behavior
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