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Sea otters also are members of the animal kingdom's tool-wielding club.
A new study offers a fuller understanding of the tool use - utilizing rocks and other objects to break open hard prey - by these marine mammals.
It lets the otters eat certain larger prey and reduces their tooth damage by cutting down on their chomping down on hard shells, with females using tools more than males, perhaps to compensate for their smaller body size and weaker bite force, researchers found.
Sea otters
The sea otter (Enhydra lutris) is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean.
Unlike most marine mammals, the sea otter's primary form of insulation is an exceptionally thick coat of fur, the densest in the animal kingdom.
Although it can walk on land, the sea otter is capable of living exclusively in the ocean.
Sea otters, once on the brink of extinction due to hunting for their prized pelts in the 18th and 19th centuries, are making a remarkable comeback.
Sea otters, known for their incredibly soft pelts, faced near-extinction as European settlers relentlessly hunted them.
However, international treaties and conservation acts, such as the Fur Seal Treaty of 1911 and the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, paved the way for their protection.
IUCN Conservation status: Endangered
Included in CITES Appendix II
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