Kangaroo turned out to be left -handed

A new study revealed that two types of large Australian kangaroo clearly prefer to act with the left of their front limbs. Previously, the phenomenon of the “leading hand” was noted, in addition to people, only among anthropoid monkeys.

The authors of the study were employees of the department of zoology of the vertebrates of St. Petersburg State University Egor Malashichev, Andrei Gilev and Karina Karenina, as well as Janeane Ingram from the universitate of Tasmania. Scientists modified the tests that were previously used to identify the prevailing hand in primates, and used them in working with a large red kangaroo ( Macropus Rufus ) and a giant kangaroo ( Macropus Giganteus ) - two of the largest kangaroo. As it turned out, both species prefer to use the left front limb for everyday actions, such as feed mining and hair care.

The allocation of the preferred limb is associated with interhemispheric asymmetry of the brain, but the exact causes of this phenomenon are unknown. In an earlier study, zoologists have discovered the presence of a preferred limb in house marshes and marsupial flying, but in comparison with the kangaroo, this preference is less developed. This allows you to associate the allocation of the leading hand with the transition to movement on two legs, which was independent of large kangaroo and primates.

The study is published on the website of Current Biology.