BIOLOGY 312 Study Guide - Final Guide: Nrc Research Press, Carnivora
Document Summary
Unless you are an athlete or surgeon, you may never consider whether the. Dexterity and the carnivore dexterity of your limbs, hands, and body contributes to your well being. However, dexterity is a very important factor in the survival of carnivores like lions and hyenas, contributing to their ability to find prey and other predators. A recent study aimed at determining what contributed to carnivore dexterity. It looked at body size, ancestral relationships, locomotion, and diet in the evolution of dexterity in fissiped carnivores, or those whose toes are separated from one another. The results showed that body size could have evolved as forelimb dexterity evolved, but once each carnivore"s historical genetic relationships were considered, this was no longer the case. These genetic relationships showed a large amount of variation in forelimb dexterity between the ancestors of different carnivore species. This may show that dexterity is influenced by the body"s functional requirements in each carnivore.
