Spriggina Fossils Show 500-Million-Year-Old Right-Handedness in Animals
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jul 9
Spriggina Fossils Show 500-Million-Year-Old Right-Handedness in Animals
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jul 9
Summary
South Australian Spriggina fossils suggest animals were showing behavioral handedness more than 500 million years ago, making the thumb-size organism the earliest known example yet identified.
Researchers found many specimens bent in the same direction, indicating Spriggina consistently turned right as it moved along the seafloor despite having no limbs.
The study, published Thursday in Scientific Reports, argues that once complex life evolved distinct left and right sides, side preference could emerge as well.
That pushes evidence of handedness far beyond the previous fossil record, which included a right-handed Homo habilis from 1.8 million years ago and right-veering trilobites.