ABSTRACT
This chapter explains a response shaping of food-directed behavior is probably common in the natural environments of animals. In some cases the shaped behavior may be so similar across different members of a species that we might easily mistake it for behavior whose learned component is small relative to its genetic component. Concurrent food-reinforcement schedules are well represented in the natural environments of most animals. Natural environments are so complex that many instances of learning go unobserved and unrecorded, even when scientists are observing the animal's behavior closely. The food-directed behavior from which the African greater honey guide derives its name provides a clear example of interspecies shaping in the natural environment. In addition to feeding on insects, honey guides eat bees wax. In order to talk about tool use by animals, it is necessary to first define the word "tool". These tools are made from whatever materials happen to be available in the animal's natural environment.
