Heritability of hand preference in chimpanzees (Pan)

Abstract

Heritability in hand preference was examined in 76 chimpanzees by comparing strength and direction of hand preference between offspring and parents and among half-siblings reared in different environments. For two separate measures of handedness, offspring had the same hand preference as their biological parent significantly more often then would be predicted by chance. Half-siblings exhibited patterns of hand preference which significantly deviated from chance. In no instance did rearing environment account for a significant proportion of variance. These results strongly suggest a heritability component to the expression of hand preference in chimpanzees.