Porcine Tool-Making Seen in Nets

In the final study, Root-Bernstein and her colleagues put a variety of spatulas in the enclosure to see if perhaps the pigs would take advantage of easier-to-use tools. They also observed, more systematically, the pigs’ social dynamics, as well as the stages of nest building. Priscilla was clearly seen using a tool seven more times, two of which were with a spatula. There were also a few other possible but more ambiguous instances for both her and her daughters.

During this period, the scientists also tracked more than 70 agonistic interactions between individuals, establishing Priscilla as the least dominant female. This result is significant because in other species, it is usually not the dominant members who are credited with innovation. Across observations, Priscilla seemed to be the tool-use star, leading the authors to believe that she can be credited with first using the bark and sticks as tools, a behavior that was then social transmitted to the other family members. Of course, there are different possibilities: for example, Priscilla, who was not Parisian-born, might have learned tool use from the pigs in her original birthplace. In any case, more research is needed to see if this unique behavior can be seen in other captive and wild pigs. Despite their reputation as lazy, research has established that pigs are actually highly intelligent. And as this study shows, when it comes to our understanding of their cognitive and social abilities, the opposite of Porky Pig’s famous last line is true: that’s not all folks!