Brutkey

AkaSci 🛰️
@AkaSci@fosstodon.org

This is not an AI-generated animation of a Gary Larson cartoon.

This is a rare observation of the use of a multipurpose tool in a non-primate.

Veronika, a 13-year-old Swiss Brown cow living in rural Austria, seems to have mastered the technique of using a deck-brush broom to scratch herself. She strategically employs both the broom and stick ends to reach different body regions.

This shows that cows and other animals deserve more respect 🐮🙏
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGVo41MuLiQ
https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(25)01597-0
1/n

AkaSci 🛰️
@AkaSci@fosstodon.org

Some more intelligent and adaptive behavior among farm animals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRSuQSym7aY
2/n

AkaSci 🛰️
@AkaSci@fosstodon.org

The authors of the paper conclude that -
"Given that Bos taurus and Bos indicus diverged more than 500,000 years ago, the capacity for tool use in cattle is unlikely to be a byproduct of domestication alone but may instead reflect a deeper, latent propensity for physical problem-solving within the bovine lineage.

Perhaps the real absurdity lies not in imagining a tool-using cow, but in assuming such a thing could never exist."

https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(25)01597-0
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_tools
3/n