New Caledonian crows exhibit considerable variation in tool making between populations. Here, we present the first study of the species' genetic structure over its geographical distribution. We collected feathers from crows on mainland Grande Terre, the inshore island of Toupéti, and the nearby island of Maré where it is believed birds were introduced after European colonisation. We used nine m...

While humans are able to understand much about causality, it is unclear to what extent non-human animals can do the same. The Aesop's Fable paradigm requires an animal to drop stones into a water-filled tube to bring a floating food reward within reach. Rook, Eurasian jay, and New Caledonian crow performances are similar to those of children under seven years of age when solving this task. Howe...

29 30 There is a dramatic lack of data on Hg levels in marine organisms from tropical areas, 31 and in particular from New Caledonia. For the first time, this study reports the total Hg 32 concentrations in the tissues of several marine taxa from the New Caledonian lagoon. Seafood 33 from both wild and farmed populations was considered. Hg concentrations varied over 3 34 orders of magnitudes ac...

In this work, several taxonomic problems affecting the recently erected genus Acronymolpus Samuelson, 2015, endemic to New Caledonia, are addressed. Two of the three New Caledonian species described in Stethotes Baly are transferred to Acronymolpus and their priority is recognized over the names proposed in the revision of this genus. Moreover, different forms of Acronymolpus always found in sy...

Herbarium and field specimens (over 300) of all of the Flacourtiaceae of New Caledonia were analysed for nickel in order to identify hyperaccumulators (greater than 1000 microgram/g dry mass) and to assess nickel accumulation in relation to the evolutionary status of 'nickel plants' of New Caledonia. One hyperaccumulator was identified in the genus Lasiochlamys, ten among Xylosoma, one among Ca...

New Caledonian crows Corvus moneduloides use tools made from sticks or leaf stems to 'fish' woodboring beetle larvae from their burrows in decaying wood. Previous research on this behaviour has been confined to baited sites, leaving its ecological context and significance virtually unexplored. To obtain detailed observations of natural, undisturbed tool use, we deployed motion-triggered video c...