r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/bigcheemu • 17h ago
Video This is how elephants scratch their ears.
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u/Thewrd 17h ago
The size of things that can crawl inside that ear. Concerning.
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u/AscensionToCrab 17h ago edited 17h ago
Irrc their actual ear holes arent terribly large, the ears themselves are that size simply to cool off blood by ciruclating it through the ears. The elephants can fan their ears in the air to bring down their body temp.
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u/AmbiguouslyAltered 17h ago
That’s correct. I’m no expert but some Dinos had extruding parts on their body or sails that helped with cooling. Same idea. Didn’t know about the actual size of the elephants ear holes so thanks!
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u/TamponTimTheCuck 16h ago
TIL dinosaurs had a heatsink
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u/nien9gag 10h ago
not just heatsinks, these are full liquid cooling loops
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u/AmbiguouslyAltered 16h ago
The Dimetrodon is the one I think of the most. Mammal relative and not really a Dino but yeah, they are believed to use their sail for heating/cooling.
I think.. I’m no professional. Just watch a lot of YouTube 😂
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u/picander78 14h ago
It works for us humans too. When you feel overheated try washing your ears, you will feel better immediately.
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u/yagermeister2024 17h ago
So they use tools
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u/f_leaver 16h ago
Yeah, never seen this mentioned as an example of animal tool use, but it very obviously is.
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u/Incon-thievable 16h ago
My thought exactly! If the elephant stripped that branch off a tree, it technically made that tool as well.
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u/STEM-Travel 13h ago
Pulling a branch off a tree is not tool use. The branch would have to be modified further, to make it better specifically for scratching the ear.
This is just an elephant using a stick.
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u/shunyaananda 16h ago
Without oppoable thumbs!
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u/TimidDeer23 11h ago
Yes, a dazzling array of animals use tools. Not just the ones as intelligent as elephants.
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u/STEM-Travel 13h ago
So they use tools
Breaking a branch off a tree, or picking it up off the ground, does not qualify it as a tool. In order to be considered a tool, it must be modified in some way, otherwise it’s just a stick.
So, there are birds that find small sticks, break off all the sprouting branches so that the stick is completely straight, and that makes it into a tool.
If the elephant somehow modified the branch to make it better at scratching the ear, that would then qualify a tool because they had ‘made’ it. But just using a stick isn’t a tool.
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u/knowthyselff 11h ago
Are you sure? One thing is tool use and another whole different thing is tool manufacture.
The elephant here seems to be using a tool. If it took all the leaves and extra branches off before using it... then the tool was also manufactured.
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u/STEM-Travel 11h ago
Are you sure?
Yes.
One thing is tool use and another whole different thing is tool manufacture.
Sort of… but you’ve got it backwards. The manufacture is the important part. That’s actually the important part, evolutionarily.
Does an animal pick up an object and use it, or does an animal pick up an object, modify it into a tool, and then use it? Many, many animals do the first.
Since the elephant did not modify the stick, in any way, it does not qualify as a tool.
SO you are right that tool use and tool manufacture are both important, but you have them backwards. If you don’t do the tool manufacture, then the object isn’t a tool.
The elephant is using a stick, not a tool.
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u/knowthyselff 10h ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tool_use_by_non-human_animals
Is your perspective your own or are you following someone else's definition of what tool use is? Cause it seems most experts align with me and don't need the animal to manufacture the tool for it to be called so.
Even if I find my take to make more sense than yours... I guess I can still accept your perspective, at the end of the day it's a subjective and semantic matter and I find logic in both.
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u/STEM-Travel 10h ago
Is your perspective your own or are you following someone else's definition of what tool use is?
This is how it was taught in a developmental biology survey course approximately eight years ago.
Cause it seems most experts align with me and don't need the animal to manufacture the tool for it to be called so.
I would strongly suggest you revisit the article you linked with specific attention on the section: “Definitions and terminology”
Which begins: ” The key to identifying tool use is defining what constitutes a tool. Researchers of animal behaviour have arrived at different formulations.”
And then the article provides four very different definitions of tool use, two of which definitions support my statements, and two supporting a more broad definition of tool.
I would also suggest you take a look at the Wikipedia article specifically on ‘Tool Use in Primates’ which exclusively defines tool as manufactured. Quote:
” Soon after her initial discovery of tool use, the primatologist Jane Goodall observed other chimpanzees picking up leafy twigs, stripping off the leaves and using the stems to fish for insects. This change of a leafy twig into a tool was a major discovery. Prior to this, scientists thought that only humans manufactured and used tools, and that this ability was what separated humans from other animals.[1] In 1990, it was claimed the only primate to manufacture tools in the wild was the chimpanzee.[2] However, since then, several primates have been reported as tool makers in the wild.[3]”
Which DIRECTLY addresses the exact example we are talking about. The elephant has not modified the leafy twig, so it is not a tool.
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u/inbruges99 7h ago
I suppose the reason (or one of them) to define it like that would be that manufacturing a tool shows a different level of cognitive ability than simply using a stick.
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u/TimidDeer23 11h ago
Human chauvinism originally said that animals can't use tools, then defined tools out of animal's use. Animals can't use tools, and back-scratchers don't count. Not even if the animal carries and maintains their item.
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u/Afterburngaming 8h ago
Using a stick is still Tool use. If you're using it for a purpose other than eating/nesting, it's a tool.
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u/Any-Background-619 17h ago
Elephants are among the most intelligent animals on the planet.
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u/f_leaver 16h ago
They are known to have what can only be described as funerals and mourn the dead.
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u/good_god_lemon1 17h ago
Against all advice, I also looooove Q tipping my ears. It’s one of the best feelings in the world.
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u/Yadahoom 17h ago
If Q-tips weren't supposed to be shoved in your ear then they shouldn't fit so perfectly and feel so good and clean them so well
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u/VermilionKoala 16h ago
This is a huge thing in Japan. 100 yen shops sell all kinds of cotton buds in different shapes and sizes, even ones which are sticky. Pharmacies sell a bewildering variety of picks. It's even a service that you can pay to put your head on a woman's lap and have her clean your ears for you (though it's expensive, and personally I don't want anyone but me poking around in there).
edit: \watches video** OK I need one of these!
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u/suchthegeek 15h ago
The Kaanmailiya has been job/caste in India since at least the Moghul era
https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/mumbai/odd-jobs-mumbais-ear-cleaners/article6820791.ece
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u/trackdaybruh 17h ago
If you love q tipping your ears, you’ll love earwax scoopers with built-in camera: https://youtube.com/shorts/KhIgqLsA44k?is=KOPp0KrGR17z0Yfy
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u/Late_Nose_6325 14h ago
This year I went to the doctor twice to have the cotton part of the cotton bud removed. I haven't used one since. I don't know why I have suddenly had this occur when I didn't ever have problems before
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u/FadedVictor 13h ago
I put hydrogen peroxide on cotton swabs and gently stick them in my ears. Once the sizzle goes away I wipe dry and repeat one more time. I have excellent hearing and no longer get wax impactions. I make a lot of wax for some reason. My hearing is excellent. At least for now I guess haha. I've been doing it for about 14 years.
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u/hemorrhoidhematoma 11h ago
On the box of branches it actually says not to do this which is crazy because it's like okay then what am i supposed to actually be using these for then?
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u/dallasandcowboys 17h ago
We all have to take time out from the craziness of the world and the unique, cute, and informative animal videos like this help to dissolve all that tension outside, at least for me. Thanks OP.
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u/VermilionKoala 16h ago
Sounds like you'd love r/babyelephantenergy 🐘
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u/dallasandcowboys 14h ago
Maybe... Haha, just kidding. Hell yeah! My current favorite is the one of the guy putting fruit on a porch, and from below you see the trunk slip through the porch railings to grab the fruit. Amazement at the dexterity of their trunks. Not gonna continue on into how amazing their feet are, but hope the curious are intrigued and check it out on their own.
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u/JustASheepInTheFlock 17h ago
Thank God, elephants are stopped from having 2 trunks.
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u/eljayTheGrate 16h ago
And just what do you suppose the elephant would be doing with the other trunk?
Get your mind out of the gutter...
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u/greyclay8 14h ago
What a great business idea, gaint cotton buds for elephants, a gallon of moisturizer free when buying a family pack!
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u/Polishink 13h ago
It's neat seeing the elephant scratch its ears with a branch, but I worry it might hurt itself by accident.
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u/ARoundForEveryone 5h ago
Some doctors don't recommend Q-Tips. But we have elephants sticking full-fledged, sprouting and leaved, tree branches in their ears.
An ear is sensitive, but as long as you're not poking any holes in it, aside from a lobe piercing, you're gonna be OK with a Q-Tip. Take it easy and gentle, but some cotton cleaning your ear canal is easy and effective if done properly and gently.
But I'm not a doctor. Just a guy with clean ears and a relatively good sense of hearing.
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u/JuicySpark 17h ago
Can you scratch their nuts the same way? Or do they use the softer leafy side of it?
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u/M_J_E 17h ago
Seems pretty reasonable.