Evidence of Laterality in the Lowland Gorilla

Fischer, Robert; Meunier, Gary F.; White, Pamela J.

doi:10.2466/pms.1982.54.3c.1093

Cited by 60 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…These results are consistent with those finding a righthand feeding preference in this species [Fischer et al, 1982;Lockhard, 19841. The lack of a specific bipedal requirement may explain the lack of unilateral preference in the results of Heestand U9861 and Preilowski & Leder [19851. The results of the present study are also congruent with Schaller's [1963] finding of a right-handed initiation of chest-beating in male gorillas since chest-beating is performed in a predominantly bipedal posture.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

“…In a unique field study, Schaller [19631 reported that 8 male gorillas appeared ambidextrous while feeding but demonstrated a statistically significant right-hand preference for initiating their chest-beating displays. Fischer et al [1982] described a right-hand preference for grasping food in 4 female gorillas. A similar right-hand feeding preference was described in 5 of 7 lowland gorillas by Lockhard [19841, with only one gorilla showing a left-hand preference.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hand preferences in captive gorillas, orang‐utans and gibbons

Olson

Ellis

Nadler

1990

American J Primatol

110

107

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Hand preference was assessed in 12 gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), 13 orang-utans (Pongo pygmaeus abelii), and 9 gibbons (Hylobates lar) by using a floor retrieval task and a mesh retrieval task. Hand preference was also assessed in 8 gorillas and 8 orang-utans by using a task involving the unfastening of a hasp. A bipedal requirement during testing (mesh retrieval task) facilitated detection of hand preferences. A significant lefthand preference was found for the gibbons with 6 of 6 gibbons preferring their left hand on the mesh retrieval task. Similarly, a significant righthand preference was found for the gorillas with 10 of 12 gorillas preferring their right hand on the mesh retrieval task. The data for the orang-utan suggest a bimodal distribution on all tasks. Since the gibbon and gorilla in the wild engage in bipedal locomotion more frequently than the orangutan, one possible interpretation for these results correlates the degree of bipedal behavior of a species in its natural environment with its readiness to exhibit a unilateral population-level hand preference.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hand preferences in captive gorillas, orang‐utans and gibbons

Olson

Ellis

Nadler

1990

American J Primatol

110

107

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The right hand was better at producing finely controlled pressures in rhesus monkeys (Preilowski, Reger & Engele, 1986), and was preferred for joystick manipulation in perceptuomotor tasks in monkeys and chimpanzees (Hopkins, Washburn & Rumbaugh, 1989). In gorillas, chest beating is said to be predominantly right-handed (Bresard & Bresson, 1987), and may be preferred for grasping (Fischer, Meunier & White, 1982), even though, as in humans (Saling & Kaplan-Solms, 1989), the infant may be carried in the left -perhaps to leave the right hand free. Indeed, seven out of ten dimensions were found to be larger in the right forelimb of rhesus monkeys, especially around the ulna and humerus, and as in humans such hypertrophy perhaps reflects greater use (Falk, Pyne, Helmkamp & DeRousseau, 1988).…”

Section: Primatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Animal asymmetry and human heredity: Dextrality, tool use and language in evolution–10 years after Walker (1980)

Bradshaw

1991

British J of Psychology

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At the time of the last major review on this subject in the British Journal of Psychology (Walker, 1980) there was, with a few notable exceptions, little evidence of anatomical or behavioural asymmetries in non-human species at all comparable to our own. In the past decade the picture has changed dramatically, and now includes invertebrates from the Cambrian formations of half a billion years ago, many species of birds, rats and mice, antelopes, cats, dogs, whales, and primates. Asymmetries may differ as a function of sex (including hormone status-females of many species including humans appearing more lateralized at a motor level), developmental status and environmental influences. Effects may be manifest anatomically (limb or brain dimensions), or at a sensory, cognitive or motor level (paw preference, turning biases). A recurring observation across species is that the right hemisphere seems to be weakly specialized for spatial and emotional roles, and the left for learning, discriminatory and communicatory functions. Three million years ago our hominid ancestors were more or less fully bipedal, developed the first stone tools and were dextral in manipulating them. However, tool use seems not to have driven the evolution of language, our other strongly lateralized capacity. Evolutionary scenarios for bipedalism, tool use and language are discussed, together with the question of whether human language is continuous, in an evolutionary sense, with earlier primate call systems.

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“…For example, humans, particularly women, show universal left-sided biases in cradling infants (Damerose and Vauclair, 2002). Researchers have reported a similar left-sided maternal cradling bias in great apes, notably in chimpanzees and gorillas, but not in other primates (Cunningham et al, 1989;Damerose and Vauclair, 2002;Dienske et al, 1995;Fischer et al, 1982;Hopkins, 2004;Lockard, 1984;Manning and Chamberlain, 1990;Manning et al, 1994;Rogers and Kaplan, 1995; Toback, 1999). Evidence of asymmetries in other early mother-infant behaviors of primates, such as nipple preferences, is less clear.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Left Nipple Preferences in Infant Pan paniscus and P. troglodytes

Hopkins

Lathouwers

2006

Int J Primatol

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We investigated laterality in nipple preference in 16 mother-infant dyads, 8 bonobos, and 8 chimpanzees via an event sampling procedure in infants 5-55 mo of age. Both bonobo and chimpanzee infants preferred the left nipple, and the results were stable over time. Maternal age, experience, and rearing history did not influence laterality in offspring nipple preferences. We discuss the results in the context of the role of early mother-infant interactions on the development of laterality in primates. Keywordslaterality; mother-infant behavior; cradling; nipple preference Damerose and Vauclair (2002) and Hopkins (2004) recently suggested that early asymmetries in mother-infant behaviors may be the basis for the development of handedness. In particular, Hopkins (2004) argued that infant primates are not born into symmetrical environments but instead are exposed to imposed asymmetries by the caretaker, in the form of cradling biases, or the infants show explicit asymmetries in reflexive behaviors such as head orientation or limb strength (Fagot and Bard, 1995;Hopkins and Bard, 1995;Hopkins et al., 1997). Presumably, the early asymmetries result in differential stimulation of the limbs, which leads to preferential use of one or the other during infant development.There is a growing body of evidence for asymmetries in early mother-infant interactions and the results are not restricted to nonhuman primates. For example, humans, particularly women, show universal left-sided biases in cradling infants (Damerose and Vauclair, 2002). Researchers have reported a similar left-sided maternal cradling bias in great apes, notably in chimpanzees and gorillas, but not in other primates (Cunningham et al., 1989;Damerose and Vauclair, 2002;Dienske et al., 1995;Fischer et al., 1982;Hopkins, 2004;Lockard, 1984;Manning and Chamberlain, 1990;Manning et al., 1994;Rogers and Kaplan, 1995; Toback, 1999). Evidence of asymmetries in other early mother-infant behaviors of primates, such as nipple preferences, is less clear. In humans and in 1 study in wild chimpanzees, there is some evidence of left nipple preferences by infants but very few studies (Nishida, 1993;Stables and Hewitt, 1995;Vieira et al., 1996). Old World monkey infants clearly show nipple preferences but the evidence of population-level asymmetries is inconsistent among species and studies (Damerose and Hopkins, 2002;Erwin et al., 1975; 5 To whom correspondence should be addressed; e-mail: Lrcbh@rmy.emory.edu or whopkins@berry.edu. Hinde et al., 1964;Hiraiwa, 1981;Jaffe et al., 2006;Lindburg, 1971;Tanaka, 1989Tanaka, , 1997Tomaszycki et al., 1998). Interestingly, among New World monkeys that twin, such as the common marmoset, infants adopt opposite nipple preferences (Dienske et al., 1995; Kaplan, 1998, cf. Deets andHarlow, 1970;Nakamichi, 1983;Winkler and Prestel, 1989). NIH Public AccessWe assessed laterality in nipple preferences in 2 species of great apes: bonobos and chimpanzees. Some apes show a left-side cradling bias but it is unclear whether the left-sided...

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Evidence of Laterality in the Lowland Gorilla

Cited by 60 publications

References 8 publications

Hand preferences in captive gorillas, orang‐utans and gibbons

Hand preferences in captive gorillas, orang‐utans and gibbons

Animal asymmetry and human heredity: Dextrality, tool use and language in evolution–10 years after Walker (1980)

Left Nipple Preferences in Infant Pan paniscus and P. troglodytes

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