Usenet Posted 23 years ago
English in UK
Animal handedness
Dear all,
I was wondering whether, in English, you can refer to lateral biases in behavior in animals as "handedness". For instance, some crow species prefer to manipulate objects with their right... hand. I guess that if you can say "manipulate" (manus = hand, in Latin) you could also say that these animals are right-handed.
An what about, say, fish that prefer to scan for predators with the left or right eye?
What I am looking for is a concise and neat term to refer to all such cases. Right now I say "lateral biases in behavior" or "right-side biases" when I want to indicate the direction of the bias.
Thanks for your thoughts,
-- Stefano
I was wondering whether, in English, you can refer to lateral biases in behavior in animals as "handedness". For instance, some crow species prefer to manipulate objects with their right... hand. I guess that if you can say "manipulate" (manus = hand, in Latin) you could also say that these animals are right-handed.
An what about, say, fish that prefer to scan for predators with the left or right eye?
What I am looking for is a concise and neat term to refer to all such cases. Right now I say "lateral biases in behavior" or "right-side biases" when I want to indicate the direction of the bias.
Thanks for your thoughts,
-- Stefano
Top answer
[nq:1]I was wondering whether, in English, you can refer to lateral biases in behavior in animals as "handedness". For instance, ... [/nq] Chirality.
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[nq:1]I was wondering whether, in English, you can refer to lateral biases in behavior in animals as "handedness". For instance, ... that if you can say "manipulate" (manus = hand, in Latin) you could also say that these animals are right-handed.[/nq]
Chirality.
Rod.
Chirality.
Rod.
00
[nq:2]I was wondering whether, in English, you can refer to ... Latin) you could also say that these animals are right-handed.[/nq]
[nq:1]Chirality. From the Greek for hand, I believe. It was the word that came to my mind. It does, however, ... I see no reason not to use handedness. It even appears in football, "..he always kicks the ball righthandedly." m.[/nq]
[nq:1]Chirality. From the Greek for hand, I believe. It was the word that came to my mind. It does, however, ... I see no reason not to use handedness. It even appears in football, "..he always kicks the ball righthandedly." m.[/nq]
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