"The cartoon depicts a strangely eye-less, bipedal cow standing in front of a bench of oddly-shaped objects, with the caption "Cow tools," and no further context. The "joke" - that cows are too stupid to make practical tools? - landed so flat that the cartoonist Gary Larson issued a public statement explaining it after readers swamped newspaper s with confused inquiries after it ran."
"In footage shared by the researchers, the cow named Veronika holds a lengthy broom handle in her mouth and manipulates it to scratch herself, displaying impressive dexterity as she reaches everywhere on her body from her stomach to her rear end. The feat is clearly no fluke, and remarkably, Veronika had received no training. "[Veronika] did not fashion tools like the cow in Gary Larson's cartoon, but she selected, adjusted, and used one with notable dexterity and flexibility," the researchers wrote in the study. "Perhaps the real absurdity lies not in imagining a tool-using cow, but in assuming such a thing could never exist.""
Scientists documented the first verified case of a cow using a tool when a bovine named Veronika picked up and manipulated a long broom handle with her mouth to scratch her body. Veronika reached from her stomach to her rear end with precise, flexible movements and did so without any training, indicating spontaneous selection and use. Observers noted selection, adjustment, and flexible use rather than manufacturing of a tool. The case challenges assumptions about cattle intelligence and underscores how little empirical research has examined cognitive abilities in cows and other cattle.
Read at Futurism
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