Neanderthal thumbs better adapted to holding tools with handles – Phys.org

Neanderthal thumbs were better adapted to holding tools in the same way that we hold a hammer, according to a paper published in Scientific Reports. The findings suggest that Neanderthals may have found precision gripswhere objects are held between the tip of the finger and thumbmore challenging than power ‘squeeze’ grips, where objects are held like a hammer, between the fingers and the palm with the thumb directing force.
Using 3-D analysis, Ameline Bardo and colleagues mapped the joints between…

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