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Topic: Opposable thumb

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	Evolution: The Panda's Thumb [Athro, Limited: Biology]
		The "thumb" that underlies the thumb pad of the giant panda consists of a single bone that is not one of its normal digits.
		In either case, the panda's thumb is a contrivance that is an artifact of the history of the panda.
		The original function of the radial sesamoid was to reduce the chance of tears in the tendon that runs to the thumb from a muscle in the arm (the sesamoid forms where this tendon bends around the edge of the wrist).
	www.athro.com /evo/pthumb.html (970 words)

	Thumb - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		The human thumb is fully opposable to the tips of the other fingers in that it may position itself, and be folded inward, toward the rest of the hand and fingers, if so required.
		Typical interdigital grips include the tips of thumb and second finger (forefinger/index finger) holding a pill or other small item, or thumb and sides of second and third fingers holding a pen or pencil.
		The evolution of the opposable or prehensile thumb is usually associated with Homo habilis, the forerunner of Homo sapiens.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Opposable_thumb (405 words)

	Hand (Site not responding. Last check: )
		The thumb (connected to the trapezium) is located on one the sides, parallel to the arm.
		Opposable thumbs are identified by the ability to be brought opposite to the fingers.
		The Intrinsic muscle groups are the thenar and hypothenar muscles (thenar referring to the thumb, hypothenar to the little finger), the interosseus muscles (between the metacarpal bones, four dorsally and three volarly) and the lumbrical muscles.
	www.free-download-soft.com /info/hand.html (969 words)

	Expert About th:Thumb
		The basilar joint of the thumb is formed by a small wrist bone (trapezium) and the first of the three bones of the thumb (metacarpal).
		The precise origin of 'rule of thumb' is not certain, but it seems likely to refer to the thumb as a rough measuring device ('rule' meaning 'ruler' rather than 'regulation'), which is a common practice.
		Subject: Reference for "Rule of Thumb" I have gone around quoting the "rule of thumb": that is it used to be law that a man could beat his wife with a switch (tree limb) no wider than the width of his thumb.
	expertsite.biz /dir/th/thumb.htm (1794 words)

	eMedicine - Hand, Fracture and Dislocations: Thumb : Article by Steven V Priano, MD
		Thumb CMC dislocations are rare secondary to the strength of the volar (oblique) ligament, which usually produces an intra-articular avulsion fracture with a fragment attached to this ligament.
		Mallet thumb presents with the thumb in a slightly flexed posture and an inability to extend the thumb at the IP joint.
		Thumb IP dislocations usually are dorsal and are easily recognized by the deformity created by the distal phalanx riding dorsal to the distal end of the proximal phalanx.
	www.emedicine.com /plastic/topic513.htm (5261 words)

	eMedicine - Hand, Fracture and Dislocations: Thumb : Article Excerpt by: Steven V Priano, MD
		Possession of a functional opposable thumb is of primary importance in the function of the hand and upper extremity.
		Thumb injury may lead to a high level of disability in a person's professional and personal life, leading to the loss or reduction of innumerable productive hours in the workplace as well as impairment in the patient's activities of daily living.
		The IP joint of the thumb functions as a hinge (trochlear) joint with motion primarily in the plane of flexion and extension.
	www.emedicine.com /plastic/byname/hand-fracture-and-dislocations--thumb.htm (518 words)

	The Opposable Thumb
		The goal of this activity is to provide students with various opportunities to understand the physical importance of the opposable thumb among primates.
		One of the characteristics most often identified as being typically primate and having played a role in human evolution is the opposable thumb.
		In this activity, students will discover which of their simplest daily activities are possible only because of their opposable thumbs, which activities take longer without the use of an opposable thumb, and what sort of human activities would not be likely in the absence of an opposable thumb.
	www.accessexcellence.org /AE/AEPC/WWC/1991/opposable.html (464 words)

	THUMB FACTS AND INFORMATION
		In human_anatomy, the thumb is the first digit on a hand.
		The extensor_pollicis_longus tendon and extensor_pollicis_brevis tendon form what is know as the anatomical_snuff_box (an indentation on the lateral aspect of the thumb at its base) where one can usually palpate the radial_artery.
		The evolution of the opposable or prehensile thumb is usually associated with ''Homo_habilis'', the forerunner of ''Homo_sapiens''.
	www.witwib.com /thumb (357 words)

	Thumb - Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia
		Many people spend all their lives "proving" that the thumb is a finger, or alternatively, that it is a separate entity altogether.
		The thumb is so controversial that almost 50% of college students since then have cut off their thumbs in protest, declaring "We still have eight fingers!", before bleeding to death in the most hideous fashion.
		The opposable thumb is a thumb inherited from the opposum, and is also the opposite thumb to the posable thumb.
	uncyclopedia.org /wiki/Thumb (484 words)

	Thumbs Up for the Thumb By John Cowens from Teaching K-8
		Interdigital grips might also include the tips of thumb and index finger (holding a piece of candy) or thumb and sides of the index and third finger (holding a pencil).
		Human thumbs are so important for gripping that during the Gallic wars, Julius Caesar ordered the thumbs of captured warriors amputated, which made it almost impossible to bear arms.
		The least amount of thumb involvement is required for tasks like writing with a marking pen on a large piece of paper, zipping a zipper or picking up a chair.
	www.teachingk-8.com /archives/integrating_science_in_your_classroom/thumbs_up_for_the_thumb_by_john_cowens.html (762 words)

	EvC Forum: What makes homo sapiens "human"? (Site not responding. Last check: )
		Also, most primates have an opposable thumb; that is, a thumb that can be brought opposite the forefinger, allowing them to grasp and cling tightly to the branches of trees.
		Opposable thumbs allow primates to make fine manipulations with their hands, which probably led to the ability to use tools.
		In humans, the thumb is proportionately larger than in other primates, and the tip of this opposable thumb can cross over the palm to touch the other fingers.
	www.evcforum.net /cgi-bin/dm.cgi?action=msg&f=9&t=75&m=76 (1359 words)

	Sasquatch Handprints
		In the short hand the palmar surface of the thumb is quite flat and is in the same plane as all of the fingers.
		In this eminence would be found the major muscles (abductor pollicis brevis, opponens pollicis, and flexor pollicis brevis) which in man pull the opposable thumb in various ways across the palm.
		In all cases the fingers and thumb are in very nearly, though not exactly, the same relative positions and degrees of flexion.
	www.rfthomas.clara.net /papers/hprint.html (1673 words)

	PREAXIAL POLYDACTYLY (Site not responding. Last check: )
		The right thumb appears to be triphalangeal on the X-ray, but without a significant increase in length, as appears from the photographs; the tip of the thumb reaches to the proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint of the (duplicated) index finger, which is within the normal range of the thumb length.
		In the "Rotterdam study", the opposable TPT's were associated with a delta-shaped extra phalanx in the thumb, less severe thenar hypoplasia, normal first web, normal position of the thumb, and reasonable or good thumb function.
		In the Leeds family, the osseal morphology of the opposable form resembles the non-opposable one: there is a fully developed index-like extra digit localised between the thumb and index finger.
	www.leeds.ac.uk /handsurgery/EJHS/wend.htm (2488 words)

	Thumbs Are Handy Digits
		The thumb is the shortest, thickest digit on the human hand and moves in a different direction than the other digits.
		An opposable thumb is a physical adaptation for primates.
		Opposable thumbs help monkeys and apes climb trees and gather and eat their food.
	www.nsta.org /main/news/stories/science_and_children.php?news_story_ID=49036 (540 words)

	[No title] (Site not responding. Last check: )
		These morphological traits are bipedalism, reduced canines, opposable thumbs and thickening enamel on the teeth.
		He says that bipedalism and the opposable thumb occurred from having to carry the children as well as gather food and running up trees from predators.
		The four morphological traits, bipedalism, opposable thumb, reduced canines, and thickening enamel, are expressed differently in each model.
	www.priweb.org /ed/ICTHOL/ICTHOL02_peer_review_papers/22.html (647 words)

	Polydactyly preaxial
		In triphalangeal thumbs (type 2), the thumb is opposable and has a normal metacarpal.
		An historically notable example is the Scipion family in which type 3 preaxial polydactyly (the thumb was present as one or two triphalangeal digits and was sometimes opposable) was transmitted for over two thousand years.
		The thumb shows only the mildest degree of duplication, and syndactyly of various degrees affects fingers 3 and 4.
	www.orpha.net /static/GB/polydactyly_preaxial.html (11160 words)

	Animal Tracks - Opossum (Didelphis virginiana)
		Opossums have opposable thumbs on their hind feet which help them to grip branches and climb.
		Their tracks show five toes on the front foot and five toes on the rear, including the opposable thumb.
		The opposable thumb is very prominent in some of these tracks.
	www.bear-tracker.com /opossum.html (584 words)

	b o f o s o c o :: news and opinions
		She looked at me, put her opposable thumb in the air and replied, "real cool buddy." That was when I realized that other people already know how cool opposable thumbs are, and that maybe there was a brotherhood of enlightened opposable thumb users out there with whom I would now be accepted.
		I took a long sad look at the woman's hand in which the purse was swinging, her opposable thumb held it firmly in place.
		One thing we must all keep in mind is that our opposable thumbs hold a lot of power, power that must be used for the good, not the detriment of humanity.
	www.bofosoco.com /news.php?sn=3 (704 words)

	CliffsNotes::Sciences: What kind of structures are opposable toes?
		Touch the tip of each of your fingers with your thumb and think about all the ways you're able to grasp and manipulate objects using this amazing human "machine," the opposable thumb mechanism.
		Humans, who can move their thumbs a greater stretch across the hand than any other primate, rely on the ability to grasp to operate tools, such as eating utensils, pencils, screwdrivers, and sewing needles.
		Opposable toes come in quite handy when monkeys or apes need to climb a tree or grasp a branch — either for leisurely dining or for quick escape from unwelcome visitors.
	www.cliffsnotes.com /WileyCDA/Section/What-kind-of-structures-are-opposable-toes-.id-305406,articleId-7886.html (273 words)

	The Loom : The Other Panda's Thumb
		What looks like its "thumb" is actually a wrist bone (the sesamoid) that evolved until it was so big that it stuck out to one side of its forepaw.
		Two independently evolved sesamoid thumbs hint that carnivores are so constrained by their anatomy that they have only one pathway by which they can evolve something that will work like an opposable thumb.
		After all, our primate ancestors used their opposable thumbs to clamber around branches, perhaps alongside some of the ancient relatives of red pandas.
	scienceblogs.com /loom/2005/12/26/the_other_pandas_thumb.php (2420 words)

	Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down: Grasping the Idea of Evolution
		Students compare their performance of a series of tasks using their thumb and fingers to their performance of the same tasks without the use of their thumb.
		The class discussion that follows the activity defines and discusses the role of fine and gross motor skills and speculates on the role of the opposable thumb in primate evolution.
		The grasp is made possible by the opposable thumb, so called because it moves opposite to the rest of the fingers.
	www.woodrow.org /teachers/bi/1995/thumbs.html (900 words)

	Dolphins Evolve Opposable Thumbs!
		If this new thumb is not detrimental to the survival of the species, then it will grow and improve, as presumably we have.
		The ability to manipulate objects with an opposable thumbs will require more brain energy, it will be interesting to see how that changes, but it will.
		In the time it will take for the development of the thumbs to be useful for manipulating tools, the human race will have made significant advances in all fields.
	ethics.tamucc.edu /comments.pl?sid=258&cid=5441 (760 words)

	The Observer \| UK News \| Thumbs are the new fingers for the GameBoy generation
		Thumbs are the new fingers for the GameBoy generation
		The study, carried out in nine cities around the world, shows that the thumbs of the younger generation have overtaken their fingers as the hand's most muscled and dexterous digit.
		As their thumbs become stronger and more dexterous, Plant found that the thumb tribe is using its favourite digit for other tasks that are traditionally the finger's job, such as pointing at things or ringing doorbells.
	observer.guardian.co.uk /uk_news/story/0,6903,673103,00.html (582 words)

	GeekNewz Community -> National Opposable Thumb Day...
		We take for granted the opposable thumb and never stop to think about the many things we'd no longer be able to do and how difficult it would be to do some of the easier, more trivial things that are done everyday without it.
		The index finger and thumb would go in the same finger which would be thicker than all the others; this way the whole thumb, including the part which is mounted to the palm, would be disabled.
		Maybe some king got killed in a battle with a sword, the killer relied heavily on his thumb, if he didnt have a thumb, then the King would survive and then live to change world history.
	www.geeknewz.com /board/index.php?showtopic=1373 (503 words)

	The Opposable Thumb Elsewhere
		29th May 2007 - 11:41 PM The opposable thumb stands in contrast to the animal paw which is not as capable of working with the prototype tools of the "termite extractor" (stick) or the "prototype hammer" or the "prototype boomerang" (both are "rocks" to you and I).
		But the fact that water is 800 times denser than air limits their ability to generalize the concept of a projectile weapon (rock).
		No, we only know of Earth life, so we have no real objective way of rating the opposable thumb's significance in the overall universe.
	lofi.forum.physorg.com /The-Opposable-Thumb-Elsewhere_15279.html (545 words)

	Thumb (Site not responding. Last check: )
		The thumb is the first finger on a hand.
		Typical 'interdigital' kinds of grip are, for example, the tips of thumb and second finger (forefinger[?]/index finger[?]) holding a pill or other small item, or thumb and sides of second and third fingers holding a pen or pencil (of course, not all people hold things in exactly the same way).
		The opposable or, as it is sometimes called, the prehensile[?] thumb is usually associated with the evolution of homo habilis, the forerunner of homo sapiens (the human being of today).
	www.city-search.org /th/thumb.html (656 words)

	factivism - The Cursed Thumb
		There are other animals that also have opposable thumbs: orangutans, apes, gorillas, heck even raccoons and opossums (hmmm, aptly named that opossum), and they've hardly caused any trouble at all.
		The use of the thumbs up was popularized in the west by US fighter pilots during WWII, letting the ground crew know they were good and ready to go drop some bombs on unsuspecting targets.
		The thing is that these areas of antipodal thumb meaning are almost exclusively in the least developed, most impoverished areas of the world.
	www.factivism.com /content/view/116/1 (410 words)

	Polydactyl Cats
		To be a thumb it needs to have not only a terminal pad (the "fingertip") but also a palm pad (like the palm of a person's hand or the ball of a person's thumb).
		The best explanation is that although cats have intelligence, it is not the sort of intelligence that makes an opposable thumb an evolutionary advantage over other cats, nor do they walk upright in order to keep their "hands" free for manipulating objects.
		She is essentially missing one toe, has a thumb for a dew claw with a non-retractable claw, and the other 3 toes are semi-fused but do have retractable claws.
	www.messybeast.com /poly-cats.html (9291 words)

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