Limb Preferences in Firebelly Toads
Mentor 1
Gerlinde Hoebel
Location
Union Wisconsin Room
Start Date
24-4-2015 10:30 AM
End Date
24-4-2015 11:45 AM
Description
Handedness, or preferential use of a particular limb, is common in the animal kingdom. We examined whether firebelly toads Bombina orientalis show handedness, and compared whether the degree of strength required for a given task influences the degree of handedness. To do this we compared limb use during “Snout wiping”, i.e. removing an object stuck to an animal face, and “Righting”, i.e. resumption of natural upright position after having been overturned. We predicted that a task requiring more physical exertion (Righting) would show a higher degree of handedness than a task requiring little physical exertion (Wiping).
Limb Preferences in Firebelly Toads
Union Wisconsin Room
Handedness, or preferential use of a particular limb, is common in the animal kingdom. We examined whether firebelly toads Bombina orientalis show handedness, and compared whether the degree of strength required for a given task influences the degree of handedness. To do this we compared limb use during “Snout wiping”, i.e. removing an object stuck to an animal face, and “Righting”, i.e. resumption of natural upright position after having been overturned. We predicted that a task requiring more physical exertion (Righting) would show a higher degree of handedness than a task requiring little physical exertion (Wiping).
