Abstract
The hand preference of chimpanzees in their natural habitat was studied at Bossou, Republic of Guinea, West Africa. The quantitative difference in left/right hand use was small in food picking and carrying. In contrast, the chimpanzees employed either the right or left hand in nutcracking behavior using a pair of stones. All adults and many adolescents and juveniles utilized one hand exclusively for holding a hammer stone. Left hand preference was more prevalent among adults. However, when adolescents and juveniles were included, there was no significant bias in the ratio of left/right handers. Nut-cracking behavior requires long-term learning of the fine manipulation of stones and nuts by both hands. Each hand has a separate role, and the hands work together in nut cracking. The differential and complementary use of both hands may be a prime factor promoting exclusive hand preference in chimpanzees comparable to that of humans.
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Sugiyama, Y., Fushimi, T., Sakura, O. et al. Hand preference and tool use in wild chimpanzees. Primates 34, 151–159 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02381386
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02381386