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Manual Laterality for Simple Reaching and Bimanual Coordinated Task in Naturalistic Housed Pan troglodytes

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Abstract

Researchers have shown renewed interest in the study of manual lateralization in chimpanzees. Currently there is no consensus confirming the presence or absence of manual dominance at a species level, mainly for populations in the wild and in semicaptivity. We aimed to evaluate the manual laterality in a group of chimpanzees in an intermediate setting (semicaptivity) via 2 tasks: one simple and unimanual (simple reaching) and the other complex and bimanual (tube task). We replicated the same experiments from Hopkins in a new and different sample of chimpanzees. In simple reaching, the hand is used to gather food and the type of grip and the posture are evaluated. The tube task assesses the hand used to extract food from the tube and the method of extraction (digital or instrumental). Through the handedness index we observed that the subjects show clear and strong individual preferences for both tasks (100% lateralized subjects in the tube task; 86% in simple reaching), although we did not detect population preferences for any of the tasks. However, considering both tasks jointly (multiple evaluation), it was possible to detect, for the first time, skilled manual dominance at a group level in semicaptive chimpanzees in one multitask index and borderline significance in a second multitask index.

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Acknowledgments

M. Llorente has a grant from the IPHES. We thank Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Universitat Ramon Llull, and Ms. Birgit Harms, who have funded some of the research material. M. Mosquera is member of the Atapuerca Research Team. We thank Graham Butler for translation of the article and David Riba for field assistant work.

This study was performed using noninvasive methods to respect the welfare of the subjects. We followed and complied with all the principles of ethical treatment established by ASAB, the Spanish government, and the internal rules and guidelines of the Mona Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES), 43005, Tarragona, Spain

    Miquel Llorente & Marina Mosquera

  2. Unitat de Recerca i Laboratori d’Etologia, Fundació Mona, Carretera de Cassà 1 km, 17457, Riudellots de la Selva, Girona, Spain

    Miquel Llorente

  3. Facultat de Psicologia, Ciències de l’Educació i l’Esport Blanquerna, Universitat Ramon Llull, 08022, Barcelona, Spain

    Miquel Llorente & Miquel Fabré

  4. Grup d’Autoecologia Humana i del Quaternari, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 43005, Tarragona, Spain

    Marina Mosquera

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  1. Miquel Llorente
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  2. Marina Mosquera
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Correspondence to Miquel Llorente.

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Llorente, M., Mosquera, M. & Fabré, M. Manual Laterality for Simple Reaching and Bimanual Coordinated Task in Naturalistic Housed Pan troglodytes . Int J Primatol 30, 183–197 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-009-9338-1

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