There are a lot of ways to break open a clam. One method is with stone tools, and the marsh mongoose, Atilax paludinosus, uses all sorts of strategies to break open shells, including hurling them down on "anvil stones". Sea otters do something similar, carrying a rock they use to break shells. Research has shown this tool use is associated with brain size across mammals, with the marsh mongoose having the highest "encephalization index" among the mongooses (mongeese?). These associations may apply to us as well, since early hominins ate plenty of bivalves! So we might have to partially thank clams for pushing us to be smarter! #clamFacts