QUIZ: Are these animals right or left handed?
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We already know that the majority of humans are right-handed, and it turns out that dolphins are too!
Yes, we know they don't have hands...but bear with us.
Some new research shows that they have a preference for the right side of the body, over the left.
Researchers from the Dolphin Communication Project observed dolphins in the Bahamas for around six years.
During that time they found that especially when hunting for food on the ocean floor, dolphins favoured their right side.
The scientists think this could be because dolphins have phonic lips on that side, which help them use echolocation to hunt food.
As it turns out, dolphins aren't the only animals to have a preference - it's actually fairly common throughout the animal kingdom.
This 'handedness' is called laterality by scientists - they think for example, in humans, it reflects which part of the brain is being used to do something.
So, an animal's preference for one side, suggests that one side of the brain controls certain tasks more, for example finding food.
Lots of animals prefer one side over the other - have a go at our quiz to see if you can figure out which ones prefer which!
If you cannot see the quiz, click here.
- Published10 April 2019
- Published18 July 2019