Chennai: Researchers studying elephant behaviour in Karnataka have claimed elephant calves pick up their right or left-sided preference for trunk usage so early in life that this trait could be innate in them. This is analogous to humans showing distinct dextral or sinistral behaviour soon after birth.
Scientists from the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research siad they observed 30 ‘unique’ calves from 11 distinct clans in Kabini Project in Nagarhole and the Bandipur National Park between December 2015 and December 2017, to study the development of their trunk motor control (the laterality of side preference/handedness in trunk usage) as well as various social and non-social behaviours.
The study was published recently in the International Journal of Developmental Biology.
Elephants are social animals which live in clans or female social groups, led by a matriarch. The researchers found that while newborn calves took around six months to achieve the fine motor control of the trunk to pluck grass with the finesse of an adult, they began showing a preference to twisting their trunks in one particular direction even before they turned thee months of age.
The team concludes that this observation suggests that the ‘handedness’ or preference for a particular direction in trunk usage may be innate in Asian Elephants.
Asian elephant calves are an interesting research subject for studying the behaviour of development. They are precocious at birth, which means that they are born with a well-developed sensory system and are capable of locomotion hours after birth. However, they are dependent on their mothers for nutrition (they feed on the mother’s milk), physical protection and social support for a prolonged period, allowing them ample time and opportunity to learn and perfect the skills necessary for independent survival.
Interestingly, the calves can walk soon after birth, but are incapable of using their trunk to pick up objects and pull grass at birth. This skill develops over time, just as human babies learn to use their hands as they grow older.