ABSTRACT
According to biologists, selection pressures have led to the evolution of object exploration, play, and use in many animal species. By investigating and acting on objects, animals can increase their likelihood of survival by finding or constructing shelters, procuring food, identifying or protecting themselves from danger, marking their territories, and so on. Behavior with objects is found across the phylogenetic spectrum, from the construction activities of ants to the shell exploration of hermit crabs to the nest building of birds to the nut cracking of chimpanzees.
