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Left-handed monkeys prompt rethink about evolution of right-handedness

A popular idea links primates living on the ground with a tendency for right-handedness, but findings from urban langurs in India cast doubt on the idea

By Christa Lesté-Lasserre

5 April 2024

Hanuman langurs mainly live on food offerings from people

Minden Pictures/Alamy

Monkeys that adopted an urban lifestyle in India are mostly left-handed – in contrast to humans and many other primates that live on the ground.

The findings clash with long-standing claims that primates that come down from the trees generally evolve a tendency to be right-handed, raising questions about what really drives this trait.

The Hanuman langurs (Semnopithecus entellus) – named in honour of Lord Hanuman of Indian mythology – gave up their natural homes…

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