opposable thumbs
Primate hand feature
Opposable thumbs are thumbs that can rotate to touch the fingertips of the same hand, enabling grasping and fine manipulation.
This feature, shared by humans and other primates, is often cited as key to tool use and human development.
The phrase appears frequently in discussions of what distinguishes humans from other animals: Opposable thumbs let us grip a pencil.
- primatesOrder of higher mammals
- prehensileAdapted for grasping
- tool useManipulating objects purposefully
- graspingGreedy for wealth
- grab holdSecure with your hand
dexterity · capuchin · precision grip · opposability · grip · hand grip · pincer grasp · koalas · tree climbing · tools · manipulate · aye-aye · grooming · fingers · Australopithecus · metacarpals · bipedalism · stone tools
- primate traitsgrasping hands, prehensile, binocular vision, arboreal, simian
- mammalsbears, bats, sheep, cats, anteater
- grippersclaw, claws, pincer, pincers, gripper
- mammal traitsfur, hair, mammary glands, milk production, milk
- primatesape, apes, baboon, baboons, monkey
- adaptationsfilm adaptation, film adaptations, movie adaptation, TV adaptation, TV adaptations
opposable thumbshooves
Ungulate foot coverings
paws · flippers · claws · webbed feet · talons
thumb, oppose, opponent, opposition, opposed, opposing, opposes, opposable, opposable thumb