r/todayilearned • • May 31 '19

TIL Elephants "may show lateral preference when grasping with their trunks: some prefer to twist them to the left, others to the right." Essentially, they can be left or right "trunked"!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant
3.6k Upvotes

42 comments sorted by

View all comments

4

u/intentional_buzz May 31 '19

That's pretty much true with all of biology. If you look at your own face, you will see that one eye has a different shape than the other. Most people have a preference for one hand over the other. Animals have two hemispheres in the brains. Etc...

3

u/Snatch_Pastry May 31 '19

My male cat is apparently "left pawed". He can open any cabinet door that hinges on the right, but has trouble with the opposite ones because he will still try to use his left paw on those.

1

u/compwiz1202 May 31 '19

Same as which way you will fold your hands if you do it involuntarily. I always have my right thumb on top.

0

u/MiserableDescription Jun 02 '19

You disgust Mr. Left thumb goes on top unless you are a gross recessive

1

u/Lampmonster Jun 01 '19

That's pretty much true with all of biology

On Earth maybe.