Unlike previous research that has found that a group of tool-using Indio-Pacific bottlenose dolphins share a common genetic lineage, a new study (based on DNA data from UC Davis) found that tool use in sea otters is ubiquitous and actually has little to do with genetic ties. This implies they have may have been using tools for many thousands - or even millions - of years.  

Click here to go to http://insider.si.edu/2017/03/tool-use-sea-otters-little-genetic-ties-smithsonian-study/