Paper 1: Variation among human populations in the prevalence of lefties

This assignment will give you the opportunity to explore data from a variety of human populations on the
frequency and consequences of left handedness versus right handedness.
Due date: Friday, 12 January, at 6:00 pm.
Objective: To give you more practice analyzing and interpreting data on human behavior from an evolutionary
perspective, to introduce the format for essays in Evolution & Human Behavior, and to give you an opportunity to
show off your most polished prose.
Format: Printed to a PDF file, Times New Roman font 11 point or larger, double spaced, at least 1-inch margins,
not more than 2 pages. See syllabus for more details.
Note: I encourage you to discuss the data sets and your interpretations with each other. However, you must write
your paper independently.
The following pages present data in a format similar to a typical homework or in-class discussion assignment. We
encourage you to work through this material as if it were such an assignment. Your challenge is then to construct a
concise essay offering a coherent analysis of the data within an evolutionary framework.

Data Set 1: Handedness throughout human history

Whether a person is right-handed or left-handed is not always easy to
assess. Individuals may prefer different hands for different tasks.
Deals Nonetheless, for complex and skilled tasks—particularly those at which
with the we are specialists—most of us prefer one hand or the other.
question For comparisons across cultures and long periods of time, the best
of it tasks for defining handedness are those that are universal. M. Raymond
being and D. Pontier reviewed studies of hand preferences for throwing and
tied to hammering in 14 countries in America, Africa, Europe, Asia, and
genetics
Australia. The frequency of lefties ranged from 5 to 26%.
Variation in handedness appears to have been a characteristic of
human populations for a very long time. Handedness can be inferred
from the design, construction, and wear patterns on ancient tools and
weapons. Tools as ancient as 300,000 to 400,000 years old show
evidence of diversity in handedness. As with modern populations,
righties were in the majority.
The photos at right are of ancient paintings that appear to have been
made by artists who placed one hand on a rock, then blew pigment onto
it from a tube they were holding in the other hand. Can you guess which
artist was a righty and which was a lefty?

What do you think might account for the fact that humans vary in
handedness, and apparently have throughout our history?

Why do you think righties are more common in all populations?

Only suggests that both hands have a use, best used together to accomplish tasks
History: Right handedness is dominant, but frequency of lefties fluctuates

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Data Set 2: Genetic factors
If variation in a trait is at least partly due to differences in Monozygotic Dizygotic
genes passed from parents to offspring, then the trait is said to + + +
be heritable. One way to learn whether a trait is heritable is by
conducting a twin study. Monozygotic (identical) twins share
their environment and all their genes; dizygotic (fraternal)
twins share their environment and half their genes. If a trait is
heritable, then monozygotic twins will resemble each other
more strongly than dizygotic twins. The diagram at right
illustrates the logic.
Sarah Medland and colleagues summarized data from Heritability
studies of Australian and Dutch twins. Summed across studies, Low
the number of subjects was in the tens of thousands. The table
summarizes the resemblance between monozygotic versus
dizygotic twins. A higher correlation indicates a stronger
resemblance. Medland estimates that in the two study Heritability
populations roughly 25% of the variation among individuals High
in handedness is due to differences in the genes they inherited
from their parents. Cultural pressure
Note that other twin studies on handedness have produced
decidedly mixed results. Some have, like Medland’s study,
found evidence of stronger resemblance between Correlations in handedness among twins
monozygotic versus dizygotic twins. Others have found little
Monozygotic Dizygotic
or no difference in how strongly the two types of twins
resemble each other. I have chosen to present Medland’s Australians 0.243 0.145
results here because they are recent, come from what appears
to have been a careful analysis, and are—for purposes of this Dutch 0.241 0.07
paper assignment—interesting. More likely to share handedness given same egg (genetic tie)
Monozygotic is more closed correlated
Could the relative abundance of lefties versus righties change over time in a population even if handedness were
not heritable? Could the relative abundance of lefties versus righties vary across populations? If so, why does the
heritability of handedness matter to us as evolutionary biologists? Random sample of people, fraction of lefties goes down
Social World - stigma with left-handedness
Dataset 3: Handedness and longevity Higher mortality rate for lefties
Not a perfect study
A) Simon Ellis and colleagues looked at the frequency of 25
P e r c e n ta g e o f l e f t h a n d e r s f o r e a c h a g e

24 All Women Men

lefties among a large sample of people in northern England. 23
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Their data are shown in the graph at right, with percentage of 20
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lefties plotted as a function of age. 17
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What is the pattern in the data? What does it suggest about 12
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whether it is adaptive to be left-handed? 10
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5
Can you think of another explanation for the pattern in Ellis’s 4
3
data? Design a better study to determine whether lefties 2
1
0
survive at lower rates. 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70
Age

B) Olga Basso and colleagues identified a group of Danish

identical twins, born between 1900 and 1910, in which one
Fraction still alive

twin in each pair was a righty ad the other a lefty. The graphs
at right show their survival from 1960 to 2000. The solid lines
represent righties; the dashed lines lefties.

What do Basso’s data suggest about whether being a lefty is

disadvantageous? Is there an alternative interpretation? Can
you design a better study?
 Calendar time
Non-genetic component, mortality rate
doesn’t distinguish, sample passed the 2
age for reproducing
 C) John Aggleton and colleagues compared the age at death of
lefties versus righties among a sample of 3,000 cricket players. The
data appear at right. Overall, the average life span was about 2 years
shorter among the lefties than among the righties. The reduction in
longevity among lefties seemed mostly to be due to an increased
chance of dying in an accident or a war.

At what age does most of the excess mortality among lefties occur?
Does this influence your interpretation of the pattern in either Basso’s
or Ellis’s study?

What do Aggleton’s data suggest about whether being left handed is

adaptive or maladaptive?

Can you think of any advantages of being a lefty that might

compensate for the disadvantages?

Their handedness matters to their job, train

against righties more, lefties die at higher rates
early in their careers (prime reproductive years)

Dataset 4: Patterns across traditional cultures

Life rate
shorter by Charlotte Fourie and Michel Raymond knew that in modern societies lefties are overrepresented among
being athletes in sports, such as tennis, cricket, fencing, and boxing, that have an element of hand-to-hand combat.
involved, Among competitors in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, for example, over 20 percent are lefties. In the
less likely general population, fewer than 13 percent are lefties.
to pass on Fourie and Raymond also knew that in combat-like sports lefties have an advantage—at least at lower levels of
genes competition among less-experienced athletes.
Have an
What might give a lefty an advantage in a combat-like sport? Why might this advantage disappear at the highest
advantage
if fighting
levels of competition?
with right-
handers Finally, Fourie and Raymond knew that the homicide 25
rate in stone-age societies is highly variable, ranging from Yanomamö
practically zero to 5 murders per thousand people per year.
20
And they knew that homicides in stone-age societies occur Eipo
left-handers (%)

during hand-to-hand combat.

The scientists estimated the frequency of lefties in eight 15
stone age societies, and compared these numbers to the Jimi valley
homicide rates. Their data appear in the graph at right. 10 Ntumu
Baka
Kreyol
What is the pattern in the data? What does it suggest about 5 Inuit
why lefties are more common in some populations than
others? Dioula
0 –2
10 10–1 100 101
homicide rate
(no. of adult homicides/1000 individuals/year)

Stone Age Cultures in Modern Times:

homicide rate increases with a higher
percentage of left-handers, huge variation in
rates, hand to hand combat

lefties have a natural advantage

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Questions around which to build your paper:

I suggest writing one concise paragraph about each, in order.

1. Consider the claim that left-handed people are more common in some populations than others as a result of
evolution by natural selection. What kind of data would be required to make a convincing case that this
assertion is true?
2. Do humans vary in handedness? Is at least some of the variation due to differences genes passed from parents
to offspring? What is the evidence?
3. Are more humans born than survive to reproduce? Is survival and/or reproductive success connected in any
way to handedness? What is the evidence?
4. Given the evidence you have discussed in paragraphs 2 and 3, would you expect lefties to be common or rare in
most populations? In what kinds of cultures is the actual frequency of lefties relatively high? Is there an
explanation for the differences among populations that is consistent with the claim that the relative abundance
of lefties versus righties evolves by natural selection? Overall, how convincing is the evidence that the
frequency of handedness evolves in human populations?
5. Pick another trait in humans—it can be physical, psychological, or behavioral—that you suspect might
currently be evolving by natural selection in one or more populations. Briefly explain why you think the
frequency of the trait might be changing across generations, and why you think evolution by natural selection is
a plausible explanation. What additional evidence would you need to support your claim? (Note: You will not
be graded on the trait you choose, or on data currently available to evaluate your conjecture. You will be graded
on the logical structure of your argument.)

A few bits of advice:

• You don’t need to repeat background information provided in this handout, or use up space presenting an
introduction and conclusion. Just dive right into answering the questions listed above.
• You don’t need to include tables or graphs from the handout in your essay. Instead, support your assertions by
referring explicitly to the data sets by number and letter (3B, for example).
• Your prose should be polished and formal, but also readable and engaging. Avoid passive voice. Use interesting
verbs. Reread and rewrite your essay until it makes sense, sounds natural, and says exactly what you want it
to say.
If you have questions, please ask. Good luck, and have fun.

Citation: DS 4, only need to mention trend (not studies)