Doing it right

Scientists from the Universities of
Udine and Padova in Italy, and the
University of New England in New
South Wales, Australia, have
observed a rather interesting habit
among the European variety of
toads called Bufo bufo and South
American cane toads: they prefer
the use of their right forelimbs.
When a plastic balloon was wrapped
around their heads, 60 per cent of
them used their right paws to
remove it and 55 per cent used the
same for removing a paper strip
stuck to their Doses. When positioned belly-up in water, the toads
used their right arm to roll themselves into an upright position.
The study is significant because it
shows that handedness and the
accompanying changes in the brain
occurred very early in the evolution
of vertebrates.