TY - JOUR
T1 - A comparative assessment of handedness and its potential neuroanatomical correlates in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus)
AU - Hopkins, William D.
AU - Schaeffer, Jennifer
AU - Russell, Jamie L.
AU - Bogart, Stephanie L.
AU - Meguerditchian, Adrien
AU - Coulon, Olivier
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden.
PY - 2015/2/10
Y1 - 2015/2/10
N2 - The evolutionary origins of human right-handedness remain poorly understood. Some have hypothesized that tool use served as an important preadaptation for the eventual evolution of populationlevel right-handedness. In contrast, others have suggested that complex gestural and vocal communication served as prerequisite for the evolution of human right-handedness. In this study, we tested these competing hypotheses by comparing the handedness of bonobos and chimpanzees, two closely related species of Pan, on three different measures of hand use including simple reaching, manual gestures and coordinated bimanual actions. Chimpanzees are well known for their tool using abilities whereas bonobos rarely use tools in the wild. In contrast, many have suggested that bonobos have a more flexible gestural and vocal communication system than chimpanzees. The overall results showed that chimpanzees were significantly more right-handed than bonobos for all three measures suggesting that adaptations for tool use rather than communication may have led to the emergence of human right-handedness. We further show that species differences in handedness may be linked to variation in the size and asymmetry of the motor-hand area of the precentral gyrus. The results are discussed within the context of evolutionary theories of handedness, as well as some limitations in the approach to handedness measurement in nonhuman primates.
AB - The evolutionary origins of human right-handedness remain poorly understood. Some have hypothesized that tool use served as an important preadaptation for the eventual evolution of populationlevel right-handedness. In contrast, others have suggested that complex gestural and vocal communication served as prerequisite for the evolution of human right-handedness. In this study, we tested these competing hypotheses by comparing the handedness of bonobos and chimpanzees, two closely related species of Pan, on three different measures of hand use including simple reaching, manual gestures and coordinated bimanual actions. Chimpanzees are well known for their tool using abilities whereas bonobos rarely use tools in the wild. In contrast, many have suggested that bonobos have a more flexible gestural and vocal communication system than chimpanzees. The overall results showed that chimpanzees were significantly more right-handed than bonobos for all three measures suggesting that adaptations for tool use rather than communication may have led to the emergence of human right-handedness. We further show that species differences in handedness may be linked to variation in the size and asymmetry of the motor-hand area of the precentral gyrus. The results are discussed within the context of evolutionary theories of handedness, as well as some limitations in the approach to handedness measurement in nonhuman primates.
KW - bonobos
KW - brain asymmetry
KW - central sulcus morphology
KW - chimpanzees
KW - handedness
KW - motor skill
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84923901238&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1163/1568539X-00003204
DO - 10.1163/1568539X-00003204
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84923901238
SN - 0005-7959
VL - 152
SP - 461
EP - 492
JO - Behaviour
JF - Behaviour
IS - 3-4
ER -