Get a Grip! - 26 June 2012

Task 1

 

1.    Gripping with thumb and index finger

2.     4 fingers on one side of the object, thumb on the other side

3.    4 fingers curled around the object which is small, thin and long, and thumb curled in contact will other fingers

4.     palm and 4 fingers curl around the object

5.     Index and middle finger (pinching) / Middle finger and 4^th finger (pinching)

6.     Sides of 2 palms touching each other (scooping)

Task 2

 

Description: a ruler is placed on the upper part of the left palm nearer to the fingers; 4 fingers wrap around the upper part of the ruler (all fingers are packed closely together with no gaps in between the fingers); thumb is placed on the other side of the ruler diagonally opposite the pointer finger, leaving a gap between the pointer finger and the thumb.

 Task 4

Comparison	Gorilla’s	Human’s
Differences between gorilla’s and human’s hands	Have more fur	Have some hair
	Wider fingers	Thinner fingers
	Black skin	Beige or brown skin
Differences between gorilla’s and human’s legs/feet	Big toe sticks out from the side	Toes are all packed next to one another
	Toes are long and thin (some are as long as human’s fingers)	Toes are short and fat

How gorillas use their hands and arms to move:

Picture taken from: http://semanticweb.com/semantic-enterprise-what-are-the-gorillas-doing-oracle-ibm-hp-cisco-microsoft-and-sap_b710

·      Gorillas use their 4 limbs to move most of the time. Hence, they are in a stooping position.

·      Gorillas can stand on their two hind limbs for a rather short period of time.

·      Typically, they move with the back of their palms pressed against the ground with their hands clenched into a fist.

·      When they are standing on their four limbs only for a short period of time, they place their hands on the ground with fingers spreading out to support their body.

·      Their whole feet will be in contact with the ground as they move. 
  

New things I have learnt today - 3 July 2012!

  

       There is a huge gap between the human's thumb and pointer finger. This is called opposable thumb which helps to facilitate moments of the fingers. In the case of gorillas, they have a thumb sticking out from the side as there is a gap between it’s big toe and 2^nd toe. The big toe may be a opposable toe which serves as the same purpose as the opposable thumb for humans.

       Some monkeys have a prehensile tail to help with balance and to grip things.  For example, some monkeys use their tails to swing from tree to tree. Having a prehensile tail allows the monkeys to grip tightly onto the branches of the tree to prevent them from falling.