Ecological drivers of variation in tool-use frequency across sea otter populations
Sea otters are well-known tool users, employing objects such as rocks or shells to break open hard-shelled invertebrate prey. However, little is known about how the frequency of tool use varies among sea otter populations and the factors that drive these differences. We examined 17 years of observat...
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ftsmithonian:oai:repository.si.edu:10088/25002 2023-05-15T18:48:49+02:00 Ecological drivers of variation in tool-use frequency across sea otter populations Fujii, Jessica A. Ralls, Katherine Tinker, Martin Tim 2015 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10088/25002 https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/aru220 unknown Behavioral Ecology Fujii, Jessica A., Ralls, Katherine, and Tinker, Martin Tim. 2015. " Ecological drivers of variation in tool-use frequency across sea otter populations ." Behavioral Ecology . 26 (2):519–526. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/aru220 1045-2249 http://hdl.handle.net/10088/25002 133311 doi:10.1093/beheco/aru220 Journal Article 2015 ftsmithonian https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/aru220 2020-09-09T18:34:29Z Sea otters are well-known tool users, employing objects such as rocks or shells to break open hard-shelled invertebrate prey. However, little is known about how the frequency of tool use varies among sea otter populations and the factors that drive these differences. We examined 17 years of observational data on prey capture and tool use from 8 sea otter populations ranging from southern California to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. There were significant differences in the diets of these populations as well as variation in the frequency of tool use. Sea otters at Amchitka Island, Alaska, used tools on less than 1% of dives that resulted in the capture of prey compared with approximately 16% in Monterey, California. The percentage of individuals in the population that used tools ranged from 10% to 93%. In all populations, marine snails and thick-shelled bivalves were most likely to be associated with tool use, whereas soft-bodied prey items such as worms and sea stars were the least likely. The probability that a tool would be used on a given prey type varied across populations. The morphology of the prey item being handled and the prevalence of various types of prey in local diets were major ecological drivers of tool use: together they accounted for about 64% of the variation in tool-use frequency among populations. The remaining variation may be related to changes in the relative costs and benefits to an individual otter of learning to use tools effectively under differing ecological circumstances. NZP Peer-reviewed Article in Journal/Newspaper Alaska Aleutian Islands Unknown Amchitka ENVELOPE(178.878,178.878,51.567,51.567) Amchitka Island ENVELOPE(178.983,178.983,51.542,51.542) Behavioral Ecology 26 2 519 526 |
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Sea otters are well-known tool users, employing objects such as rocks or shells to break open hard-shelled invertebrate prey. However, little is known about how the frequency of tool use varies among sea otter populations and the factors that drive these differences. We examined 17 years of observational data on prey capture and tool use from 8 sea otter populations ranging from southern California to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. There were significant differences in the diets of these populations as well as variation in the frequency of tool use. Sea otters at Amchitka Island, Alaska, used tools on less than 1% of dives that resulted in the capture of prey compared with approximately 16% in Monterey, California. The percentage of individuals in the population that used tools ranged from 10% to 93%. In all populations, marine snails and thick-shelled bivalves were most likely to be associated with tool use, whereas soft-bodied prey items such as worms and sea stars were the least likely. The probability that a tool would be used on a given prey type varied across populations. The morphology of the prey item being handled and the prevalence of various types of prey in local diets were major ecological drivers of tool use: together they accounted for about 64% of the variation in tool-use frequency among populations. The remaining variation may be related to changes in the relative costs and benefits to an individual otter of learning to use tools effectively under differing ecological circumstances. NZP Peer-reviewed |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Fujii, Jessica A. Ralls, Katherine Tinker, Martin Tim |
spellingShingle |
Fujii, Jessica A. Ralls, Katherine Tinker, Martin Tim Ecological drivers of variation in tool-use frequency across sea otter populations |
author_facet |
Fujii, Jessica A. Ralls, Katherine Tinker, Martin Tim |
author_sort |
Fujii, Jessica A. |
title |
Ecological drivers of variation in tool-use frequency across sea otter populations |
title_short |
Ecological drivers of variation in tool-use frequency across sea otter populations |
title_full |
Ecological drivers of variation in tool-use frequency across sea otter populations |
title_fullStr |
Ecological drivers of variation in tool-use frequency across sea otter populations |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ecological drivers of variation in tool-use frequency across sea otter populations |
title_sort |
ecological drivers of variation in tool-use frequency across sea otter populations |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10088/25002 https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/aru220 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(178.878,178.878,51.567,51.567) ENVELOPE(178.983,178.983,51.542,51.542) |
geographic |
Amchitka Amchitka Island |
geographic_facet |
Amchitka Amchitka Island |
genre |
Alaska Aleutian Islands |
genre_facet |
Alaska Aleutian Islands |
op_relation |
Behavioral Ecology Fujii, Jessica A., Ralls, Katherine, and Tinker, Martin Tim. 2015. " Ecological drivers of variation in tool-use frequency across sea otter populations ." Behavioral Ecology . 26 (2):519–526. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/aru220 1045-2249 http://hdl.handle.net/10088/25002 133311 doi:10.1093/beheco/aru220 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/aru220 |
container_title |
Behavioral Ecology |
container_volume |
26 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
519 |
op_container_end_page |
526 |
_version_ |
1766242118094815232 |