So you are left-handed? Your pet could be too; most animals favour one limb over others
- A study has found that two-thirds of animal species have dominant sides, and even an octopus can favour one tentacle over the others
Left-handed people face many challenges in a world designed for right-handed people. But the tendency to have a dominant side does not only apply to people; scientists have shown that animals have right- or left-side preferences too.
It does not matter whether they have paws or flippers – even an octopus can have a favourite tentacle that is more responsive or moves more easily and skilfully than the others.
People have long considered right- or left-handedness to be solely a human phenomenon. A 2021 global study showed around one in 10 people are left-handed. It was conducted by a team of scientists including biopsychologist Sebastian Ocklenburg of the Medical School Hamburg – who also has plenty to say about animals.
“Handedness is a form of hemispheric asymmetry, meaning the dominance of one side of the brain for certain activities,” Ocklenburg says. It is influenced by genetic and environmental factors and also applies to animals, he says.
Many animal species show a left-right preference, he adds.
