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Scientists think they’ve cracked the mystery of human right-handedness
Researchers said upright walking and larger brains explain why about 90% of people favor their right hand.
- Oxford researchers identified upright walking and brain expansion as primary drivers of right-handedness in a study recently published in PLOS Biology.
- For decades, scientists struggled to explain why 90 percent of humans favor their right hand, prompting the team to test multiple theories using Bayesian modeling on 2,025 individuals across 41 species.
- Walking upright first freed hands for specialized tasks, while later brain growth reinforced lateralization, creating a gradient from mild preferences in Australopithecus to extreme dominance in Homo sapiens.
- Homo floresiensis, the "hobbit" species from Indonesia, displayed weaker hand preference, aligning with their relatively small brain size and less strictly bipedal movement than other hominins.
- Researchers aim to investigate whether similar limb trends appear in other animals, while culture likely stabilizes right-handed dominance through tools and social norms rather than creating it entirely.
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The study found that when our ancestors stood up straight, their hands became freer. And as their brains grew, one side gradually became dominant.
·Budapest, Hungary
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Leg evolution made most humans right-handed
It would make more sense if only a few related cultures exhibited it, but the trait is everywhere. No matter where you are in the world, the humans living there are about 90 percent right-handed while the remaining 10 percent are predominantly left-handed. This curious facet isn’t seen in our primate relatives, either. Evolutionary biologists and neuroscientists have spent decades trying to understand why the vast majority of Homo sapiens prefer…
·United States
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Total News Sources13
Leaning Left1Leaning Right2Center5Last UpdatedBias Distribution62% Center
Bias Distribution
- 62% of the sources are Center
62% Center
13%
C 62%
R 25%
Factuality
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