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Asymmetry in Gorilla Skulls: Evidence of Lateralized Brain Function?

Nature volume 244, pages 53–54 (1973)Cite this article

Abstract

ASYMMETRY in mammalian skulls is a rare phenomenon. Differential tusk usage in elephants may result in slight skull asymmetry1, and the Odontoceti (toothed whales) invariably show marked skull asymmetry caused by suppression of the nasal passage on one side. This is carried to an extreme in the Narwhal, in which a long tusk is almost always developed on the left side only.

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References

  1. Sikes, S. K., The African Elephant (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1971).

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  2. Hoadley, M. D., and Pearson, K., Biometrika, 21, 94 (1929).

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  3. Coolidge, H. J., Revision of the Genus Gorilla (Mem. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard, 50, No. 4, Cambridge, Mass., 1929).

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  4. Schaller, G. B., The Mountain Gorilla (Chicago University Press, 1963).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Duckworth Laboratory of Physical Anthropology, Faculty of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3DZ

    C. P. GROVES

  2. Sub-department of Animal Behaviour, University of Cambridge, Madingley, Cambridge, CB3 8AA

    N. K. HUMPHREY

Authors
  1. C. P. GROVES
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  2. N. K. HUMPHREY
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GROVES, C., HUMPHREY, N. Asymmetry in Gorilla Skulls: Evidence of Lateralized Brain Function?. Nature 244, 53–54 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1038/244053a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/244053a0

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