The pawedness of these bipedal marsupials was observed during eating and grooming. A connection to walking on two legs for a paw dominance was noted. Bipedal wallabies (shown below) also showed a left-hand preference. The wallabies used their left paws for fine motor skills and right paws for strength. Quadruped marsupials like tree kangaroos did not show a predominant paw.
The researchers were surprised to find a dominant paw at all since marsupial brains do not have a corpus callosum, the connecting tissue between the two sides of the brain which humans and many other placental mammals have.
This Smithsonian article describes the kangaroo research as being useful to understanding dominant handedness in humans. Additionally, left-handedness in humans correlates with less specialized brains.
Any southpaws out there among PEOTSers? Maizie is right-pawed and I am right-handed.
Chirality yours,
Steph
The researchers were surprised to find a dominant paw at all since marsupial brains do not have a corpus callosum, the connecting tissue between the two sides of the brain which humans and many other placental mammals have.
This Smithsonian article describes the kangaroo research as being useful to understanding dominant handedness in humans. Additionally, left-handedness in humans correlates with less specialized brains.
Any southpaws out there among PEOTSers? Maizie is right-pawed and I am right-handed.
Chirality yours,
Steph
