TY - JOUR
T1 - Hand preferences for coordinated bimanual actions in 777 great apes
T2 - Implications for the evolution of handedness in Hominins
AU - Hopkins, William D.
AU - Phillips, Kimberley A.
AU - Bania, Amanda
AU - Calcutt, Sarah E.
AU - Gardner, Molly
AU - Russell, Jamie
AU - Schaeffer, Jennifer
AU - Lonsdorf, Elizabeth V.
AU - Ross, Stephen R.
AU - Schapiro, Steven J.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported in part by NIH grants NS-42867, HD-60563 , and HD-56232 as well as NIH grant U42 to the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. American Psychological Association guidelines for the ethical treatment of animals were adhered to during all aspects of this study. We are grateful to the entire animal care and intern staff at the Regenstein Center for African Apes at Lincoln Park Zoo, especially Maureen Leahy, the keepers from the Milwaukee County Zoo, notably Ms. Barbara Bell and Ms. Tracy Fenn from the Jacksonville Zoo. We also thank Dr. Heidi Lyn for assistance in some data collection at Great Ape Trust of Iowa. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Dr. William Hopkins, Department of Psychology, Agnes Scott College, 141 E. College Avenue, Decatur, GA 30030. [email protected] or [email protected]
PY - 2011/5
Y1 - 2011/5
N2 - Whether or not nonhuman primates exhibit population-level handedness remains a topic of considerable scientific debate. Here, we examined handedness for coordinated bimanual actions in a sample of 777 great apes including chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans. We found population-level right-handedness in chimpanzees, bonobos and gorillas, but left-handedness in orangutans. Directional biases in handedness were consistent across independent samples of apes within each genus. We suggest that, contrary to previous claims, population-level handedness is evident in great apes but differs among species as a result of ecological adaptations associated with posture and locomotion. We further suggest that historical views of nonhuman primate handedness have been too anthropocentric, and we advocate for a larger evolutionary framework for the consideration of handedness and other aspects of hemispheric specialization among primates.
AB - Whether or not nonhuman primates exhibit population-level handedness remains a topic of considerable scientific debate. Here, we examined handedness for coordinated bimanual actions in a sample of 777 great apes including chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans. We found population-level right-handedness in chimpanzees, bonobos and gorillas, but left-handedness in orangutans. Directional biases in handedness were consistent across independent samples of apes within each genus. We suggest that, contrary to previous claims, population-level handedness is evident in great apes but differs among species as a result of ecological adaptations associated with posture and locomotion. We further suggest that historical views of nonhuman primate handedness have been too anthropocentric, and we advocate for a larger evolutionary framework for the consideration of handedness and other aspects of hemispheric specialization among primates.
KW - Asymmetry
KW - Great apes
KW - Handedness
KW - Language evolution
KW - Laterality
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/79953034251
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/79953034251#tab=citedBy
U2 - 10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.12.008
DO - 10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.12.008
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:79953034251
SN - 0047-2484
VL - 60
SP - 605
EP - 611
JO - Journal of Human Evolution
JF - Journal of Human Evolution
IS - 5
ER -