Patterns and laterality of hand use in free-ranging aye-ayes (Daubentonia madagascariensis) and a comparison with captive studies

Lhota, Stanislav; Jůnek, Tomáš; Bartoš, Luděk

doi:10.1007/s10164-008-0136-6

Cited by 20 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…However, in some primate species sex affects only the strength of limb preferences [91,92], and in many others no differences in preferential hand use between males and females was found at all [54-60]. At the same time, non-primate quadrupeds seem to display more pronounced and contrasting sex differences in manual laterality.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sex differences in motor preferences have been described in many primates (e.g., [46-51]). Generally, bias for use the left hand is more characteristic of males, whereas a greater right-hand use has been noted for females (e.g., [8,48,50,52,53]); although a number of primate studies failed to reveal any differences in motor laterality between the sexes [54-60]. The most pronounced sex differences in manual laterality have been reported for non-primate quadrupedal mammals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Forelimb preferences in quadrupedal marsupials and their implications for laterality evolution in mammals

2013

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BackgroundAcquisition of upright posture in evolution has been argued to facilitate manual laterality in primates. Owing to the high variety of postural habits marsupials can serve as a suitable model to test whether the species-typical body posture shapes forelimb preferences in non-primates or this phenomenon emerged only in the course of primate evolution. In the present study we aimed to explore manual laterality in marsupial quadrupeds and compare them with the results in the previously studied bipedal species. Forelimb preferences were assessed in captive grey short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica) and sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps) in four different types of unimanual behaviour per species, which was not artificially evoked. We examined the possible effects of sex, age and task, because these factors have been reported to affect motor laterality in placental mammals.ResultsIn both species the direction of forelimb preferences was strongly sex-related. Male grey short-tailed opossums showed right-forelimb preference in most of the observed unimanual behaviours, while male sugar gliders displayed only a slight, not significant rightward tendency. In contrast, females in both species exhibited consistent group-level preference of the left forelimb. We failed to reveal significant differences in manual preferences between tasks of potentially differing complexity: reaching a stable food item and catching live insects, as well as between the body support and food manipulation. No influence of subjects’ age on limb preferences was found.ConclusionsThe direction of sex-related differences in the manual preferences found in quadrupedal marsupials seems to be not typical for placental mammals. We suggest that the alternative way of interhemispheric connection in absence of corpus callosum may result in a fundamentally distinct mechanism of sex effect on limb preferences in marsupials compared to placentals. Our data confirm the idea that non-primate mammals differ from primates in sensitivity to task complexity. Comparison of marsupial species studied to date indicate that the vertical body orientation and the bipedalism favor the expression of individual– and population–level forelimb preferences in marsupials much like it does in primates. Our findings give the first evidence for the effect of species-typical posture on the manual laterality in non-primate mammals.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forelimb preferences in quadrupedal marsupials and their implications for laterality evolution in mammals

2013

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“…According to previous literature on lemur manual lateralization, the finding of a group‐level hand preference is quite unusual. Indeed, prior studies on this topic usually failed to reveal a significant bias in hand use for simple reaching and other unimanual actions [Leliveld et al, ; Lhota et al, ; Rigamonti et al, ; Schnoell et al, ], although it has been reported a tendency toward a left‐handedness in strepsirrhines [for review, see: Ward et al, ], including a sample of ring‐tailed lemurs [Milliken et al, ; Shaw et al, ]. However, as mentioned above, most studies on strepsirrhine hand preference have relied on the measurement of simple and spontaneous actions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[for review, see Ward et al, ] and Senegal bushbabies ( Galago senegalensis ) [Larson et al, ; Sanford et al, ]. More recently, it has been reported a lack of group‐level hand preference in Malagasy strepsirrhines for foraging and other spontaneous natural activities in species such as indri ( Indri indri ) [Rigamonti et al, ], M. murinus and M. lehilahytsara [Leliveld et al, ], aye‐ayes ( Daubentonia madagascariensis ) [Lhota et al, ], and red‐fronted lemurs ( Eulemur rufifrons ) [Schnoell et al, ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hand preference on unimanual and bimanual tasks in strepsirrhines: The case of the ring‐tailed lemur (Lemur catta)

Regaiolli

Spiezio

Hopkins

2016

American J Primatol

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Assessing manual lateralization in non-human primates could be an optimal way to understand the adaptive value of this asymmetry in humans. Though many studies have investigated hand preferences in Old and New World monkeys and apes, fewer studies have considered manual lateralization in strepsirrhines, especially in experimental tasks. This study investigated hand preferences for a unimanual and a bimanual task of 17 captive ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta), housed at Parco Natura Viva (VR), Italy. The effect of age on handedness has been also investigated. The lemurs were tested on a unimanual task, in which subjects were restricted to using one hand to retrieve the food inside an apparatus, and on a bimanual task, in which lemurs had to use one hand to keep the apparatus door open while reaching with the other hand to retrieve the food inside it. At the population-level, our results revealed an asymmetrical hand use distribution, in particular a bias toward a right hand preference for food reaching in both the unimanual and the bimanual tasks. Furthermore, at the individual-level, the bimanual task seems to elicit a greater hand preference than the unimanual task. Results of this study underline the importance of experimental tasks in determining hand preference in strepsirrhines. Furthermore, as bimanual tasks elicited a stronger degree of lateralization, they appear to be more suited to investigate manual laterality. Finally, findings from this study highlight the presence of a right hand preference in ring-tailed lemurs, shedding new light on the evolution of human right handedness. Am. J. Primatol. 78:851-860, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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“…Such digital morphology functions to facilitate percussive foraging or tapscanning (Erickson 1991(Erickson , 1995(Erickson , 1998Erickson et al 1998), a haptic-auditory behavior that contributes to the detection of embedded beetle larvae and to the material assessment of foods (Ancrenaz et al 1994;Andriamasimanana 1994;Iwano 1991;Iwano and Iwakawa 1988;Lhota et al 2008Lhota et al , 2009Petter and Peyrieras 1970;Pollock et al 1985;Sterling 1994;Sterling and McCreless 2006;Sterling et al 1994). Accordingly, aye-ayes are described as having a well-developed sensorimotor intelligence (Gibson 1986;Sterling and Povinelli 1999) that is supported in part by a large and expanded somatosensory cortex (Kaufman et al 2005).…”

Section: Aye-ayesmentioning

confidence: 95%

Thermal Imaging of Aye-Ayes (Daubentonia madagascariensis) Reveals a Dynamic Vascular Supply During Haptic Sensation

Moritz

Dominy

2012

Int J Primatol

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Infrared thermography (IRT) is used to visualize and estimate variation in surface temperatures. Applications of IRT to animal research include studies of thermofunctional anatomy, ecology, and social behavior. IRT is especially amenable to investigations of the somatosensory system because touch receptors are highly vascularized, dynamic, and located near the surface of the skin. The hands of ayeayes (Daubentonia madagascariensis) are thus an inviting subject for IRT because of the prominent middle digit that functions as a specialized haptic sense structure during percussive and probative foraging. It is a vital sensory tool that is expected to feature a high density of dermal mechanoreceptors that radiate heat and impose thermal costs under cool temperatures. Here we explore this premise by acquiring IRT images of 8 aye-ayes engaged in a variety of passive and probative behaviors. We found that the middle digit was typically 2.3°C cooler than other digits when the metacarpophalangeal (MP) joint was extended, and that it warmed an average of 2.0°C when the MP joint was flexed during active touching behavior. These changes in digital surface temperature, which were sometimes as much 6.0°C, stand in sharp contrast with the profoundly invariant temperatures of the other digits. Although the physiological mechanisms behind these temperature changes are unknown, they appear to reveal a uniquely dynamic vascular supply.

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Patterns and laterality of hand use in free-ranging aye-ayes (Daubentonia madagascariensis) and a comparison with captive studies

Cited by 20 publications

References 33 publications

Forelimb preferences in quadrupedal marsupials and their implications for laterality evolution in mammals

Forelimb preferences in quadrupedal marsupials and their implications for laterality evolution in mammals

Hand preference on unimanual and bimanual tasks in strepsirrhines: The case of the ring‐tailed lemur (Lemur catta)

Thermal Imaging of Aye-Ayes (Daubentonia madagascariensis) Reveals a Dynamic Vascular Supply During Haptic Sensation

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