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==Other animal species== {{See also|Tool use by animals|Structures built by animals|Ecosystem engineer}} [[File:Gorilla tool use cropped.jpg|thumb|This adult gorilla uses a branch as a [[walking stick]] to gauge the water's depth.|alt=Photo of a gorilla walking hip-deep in a pond, holding a stick]] The use of basic technology is also a feature of non-human animal species. Tool use was once considered a defining characteristic of the genus [[Homo]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Oakley |first=K. P. |title=Man the Tool-Maker |journal=Nature |year=1976 |isbn=978-0226612706 |volume=199 |pages=1042โ1043 |bibcode=1963Natur.199U1042. |doi=10.1038/1991042e0 |issue=4898 |s2cid=4298952}}</ref> This view was supplanted after discovering evidence of tool use among [[chimpanzee]]s and other primates,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/dept/d10/asb//anthro2003/origins/hominid_journey/optional3.html |title=Chimpanzee Tool Use |access-date=13 February 2007 |author1=Sagan, Carl |author1-link=Carl Sagan |author2=Druyan, Ann |author2-link=Ann Druyan |author3=Leakey, Richard |author3-link=Ann Druyan |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060921062716/http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/dept/d10/asb/anthro2003/origins/hominid_journey/optional3.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=21 September 2006}}</ref> dolphins,<ref name="20050607bbc">{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4613709.stm|title=Sponging dolphins learn from mum|last=Rincon|first=Paul|date=7 June 2005|work=BBC News|access-date=11 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161204093731/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4613709.stm|archive-date=4 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[crow]]s.<ref name=nbcnews21135366>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna21135366|title=Crows use tools to find food|last=Schmid|first=Randolph E.|date=4 October 2007|publisher=NBC News|access-date=11 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170310185618/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/21135366/#.WCYQR9IrLIU|archive-date=10 March 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Rutz, C. |author2=Bluff, L.A. |author3=Weir, A.A.S. |author4=Kacelnik, A. |title=Video cameras on wild birds|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|date=4 October 2007|doi=10.1126/science.1146788|pmid=17916693 |volume=318|issue=5851|page=765 |bibcode = 2007Sci...318..765R |s2cid=28785984 |doi-access=free }}</ref> For example, researchers have observed wild chimpanzees using basic foraging tools, pestles, levers, using leaves as sponges, and tree bark or vines as probes to fish termites.<ref>{{cite book | last=McGrew | first=W. C | year=1992 | title=Chimpanzee Material Culture | publisher=Cambridge Univ. Press | isbn=978-0521423717 | location=Cambridge u.a.}}</ref> [[West African chimpanzee]]s use stone hammers and anvils for cracking nuts,<ref>{{cite journal | last=Boesch | first=Christophe | title=Mental map in wild chimpanzees: An analysis of hammer transports for nut cracking | year=1984 | journal=[[Primates (journal)|Primates]] | issue=2 | pages=160โ170 |author2=Boesch, Hedwige | doi=10.1007/BF02382388 | volume=25| s2cid=24073884 }}</ref> as do [[capuchin monkey]]s of [[Boa Vista, Roraima|Boa Vista]], Brazil.<ref name=20090115newscientist>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16426-nut-cracking-monkeys-find-the-right-tool-for-the-job/|title=Nut-cracking monkeys find the right tool for the job|last=Brahic|first=Catherine|date=15 January 2009|work=New Scientist|access-date=11 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161115142232/https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16426-nut-cracking-monkeys-find-the-right-tool-for-the-job/|archive-date=15 November 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Tool use is not the only form of animal technology use; for example, [[beaver dam]]s, built with wooden sticks or large stones, are a technology with "dramatic" impacts on river habitats and ecosystems.<ref>{{Cite conference |last1=Mรผller |first1=G. |last2=Watling |first2=J. |date=24 June 2016 |title=The engineering in beaver dams |url=https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/400282/ |conference=River Flow 2016: Eighth International Conference on Fluvial Hydraulics |location=St. Louis|publisher=University of Southampton Institutional Research Repository |access-date=29 September 2022 |archive-date=24 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220924081921/https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/400282/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
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