Opposable Thumb Essay

1956 Grips and Opposable Thumbs There are multiple ways to classify and identify a primate versus a non-primate. One attribute would to look at the anatomy of the primate’s hand and to identify an opposable thumb. The discovery of opposable thumbs found in primates is stated as, “… opposable thumb on either hand, the tip of the thumb can touch the tips of the other four fingers” (Larson 2017, pg 138). Due to having an opposable thumb, it has allowed two unique grips to develop for primates. John Napier, English anatomist and evolutionary biologists, identified them to be the power grip, found only in humans, and the precision grip, found in all primates (Larson 2017, pg 138). This breakthrough is important to scientific study because it has allowed other scientists to question, study and identify other primates. When questioning it, scientists can look at how this differs from primates and non-primates and how having this unique ability allows primates to live a much different life. Studying the precision grip between apes and humans provides scientist information on how when sharing this ability humans are still able to be the ones who study apes and not the other way around. Identifying if

The reasoning for this research was to observe chimpanzees in the wild for an extended amount of time and do so in the detail to record behavior which a conclusion could then be drawn from (Larsen 2017, pg 166). While gaining the chimpanzees trust Goodall was able to study them for hours which she was then able to record their unique behaviors and provide new research (Larsen 2017, pg 166). Goodall found many new aspects of chimpanzees lives which shocked other anthropologists’ views on the apes. The findings included that chimpanzees are highly intelligent, create social bonds, and construct tools for hunting (Larsen 2017, pg