Etho-archaeology of manual laterality: well digging by wild chimpanzees.
We present the first indirect test of manually lateralized behaviour in non-human primates, based on wells dug for drinking water by wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii). Apes at Toro-Semliki Wildlife Reserve, in Uganda, dig bimanually in sandy riverbeds, leaving behind paired piles of excavated sand. The volumes of left- versus right-side piles do not differ, suggesting a lack of behavioural laterality, but this needs to be verified by further, direct observational data.
McGrew
W C
WC
Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. wcm21@cam.ac.uk <wcm21@cam.ac.uk>
Marchant
L F
LF
Hunt
K D
KD
D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D005618:Fresh Water; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D002679:Pan troglodytes / Q000502:physiology*