Opposable Thumb Research Paper

THE OPPOSABLE THUMB

The Opposable Thumb
In a search for uniquely human adaptations, many might say that our opposable thumb is one adaptation that is distinctly human. This is not entirely true, however, as according to
Damonte (2004) opposable thumbs appear in other species such as gorillas, orangutans, and chimpanzees, as well as, opossums, pandas, and even frogs (Hornaday, 1914). The following paper will describe the adaptation of the opposable thumb, trace its evolution, and discuss the types of traits the opposable thumb fits into.
Description of Adaptation
According to Damonte (2004), “Humans can move their thumb father across their hand than any other primate” (para. 3). This ability enables human beings to easily grasp objects and
According to
Damonte (2004), “Giant pandas have a bony portion of their wrist bone that they use like an opposable thumb to grasp bamboo when they eat” (para. 8). In this case, the opposable thumb in the panda bear and the opposable thumb in humans is an analogous trait (Understanding
Evolution, 2017). The thumb serves a similar purpose, but developed on its own.
Convergent and Divergent Evolution
The above example of the opposable thumb in the panda bear and the opposable thumb in humans is also a good example of convergent evolution. OpenStax College (2013) tells us that convergent evolution is “where similar traits evolve independently in species that do not share a recent common ancestry” (p. 486). The opposable thumb of the panda is actually a wrist bone, whereas the human opposable thumb is one of its five fingers.
Divergent evolution does not apply here, as OpenStax College (2013) tells us divergent evolution occurs “when two species evolve in diverse directions from a common point” (p. 486).
THE OPPOSABLE THUMB

When you consider the homologous structures found in the bones of a human hand and the flipper of a whale, this could be a better example of divergent evolution.
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