The ability to use tools is not always a sign, or a driver, of intelligence — certainly not in some Galapagos finches.

Credit: P. OXFORD/NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY

Various animals use tools such as twigs to gain better access to food sources. This puts them at an evolutionary advantage, so tool use has long been linked to higher cognitive function. But Sabine Tebbich at the University of Vienna and her colleagues found that tool-using woodpecker finches (Cactospiza pallida) are no more adept at a physical task that mimics tool use than non-tool-using individuals of the same species. Furthermore, the closely related small tree finch (Camarhynchus parvulus; pictured), which never uses tools, performed just as well at physical tasks as tool-using C. pallida birds, and failed just one of the learning tasks.

The findings show that physical and cognitive abilities do not always evolve hand-in-hand.

Anim. Behav. 82, 945–956 (2011)