Handedness found in a wild group of moor monkeys in the Karaenta Nature Reserve, South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Hand preference of wild moor monkeys Macaca maurus was investigated in food reaching situations at the Karaenta Nature Reserve, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The frequency picking up sweet-corn grains to take into the mouth by either hand of monkeys was counted directly at the feeding ground where sweet-corn grains were scattered for monkeys. Among the 20 mon- keys examined, 8 were right-handed, 8 were left-handed, and 4 were ambilateral. The results indicated the prevailed hand prefer- ence on individual level but not either trends of left- or right-hand preference on population level. The trend toward a higher pro- portion of left-handed monkeys found in Japanese and rhesus monkeys was not found. Some other characteristics found in moor monkeys are discussed in comparison with those previous findings in Japanese and Tibetan macaques in order to evaluate varia- tions within the genus Macaca (Current Zoology 56 (2): 209-212, 2010).