Outders, especially females, use tools to survive in a changing world!

Sea otters are one of the few animals that use tools to access food, and a new study has shown that individual kalans using tools (most of which are females) are able to eat larger prey and reduce tooth damage when they prefer prey. become exhausted.

Researchers of the study and the "otter observers" volunteers involved followed 196 radios of southern calans off the coast of California to better understand how endangered species use tools in a rapidly changing environment. A research team from the University of Texas at Austin, the University of California at Santa Cruz, the Monterey Bay Aquarium and other places monitored how marine mammals use tools - such as stones, shells and garbage - to open prey and revealed connections with animals. Diet and dental health.

For the first time, researchers found that the use of tools by males and female oters led to a decrease in dental injuries.

The condition of the teeth is important for survival, because when an otter's teeth become too worn or damaged, it can starve to death. The use of tools helped individual otters to meet their calorie needs by switching to different types of prey. The study showed that female otters had less tooth damage than males.

Studies show that female otters are more likely to use tools, and in the study, those who did so were able to access harder or larger prey than ottters that did not use tools. In fact, females could consume prey, which was 35% heavier compared to the prey of males who used tools.

It is known that female dolphins, chimpanzees and bonobos use tools more often than their male counterparts, probably for the same reasons. In these species, females usually raise offspring, and often they are the ones who transmit to the offspring the behavior associated with the use of tools!