英国一项最新研究发现，像人一样，猫也有“左撇子”，而且往往母猫倾向于使用右爪，公猫则多“左撇子”。
英国贝尔法斯特女王大学一个研究小组在新一期《动物行为》杂志上报告说，他们以42只家猫为研究对象，让它们完成一项复杂的取食任务——从一个窄口罐子中取出金枪鱼肉。
结果发现，在十几次的取食测试中，21只母猫有20只都使用右爪。而21只公猫中有20只习惯用左爪，另外一只公猫左右爪都用得很习惯。
研究人员说，家猫对左右爪的使用偏好只有在完成一些较复杂的任务时才十分明显。这就好比对人来说，打开一扇门用左右手都可以轻松搞定，但涉及用筷子或写字这样的复杂行为时，就开始体现出左手或右手使用偏好。
同样，当研究人员让家猫完成两项较简单的任务——去抓挂在眼前或放在地上的玩具老鼠时，无论公猫母猫，其左爪和右爪一齐抓，基本没有什么偏好。
研究人员认为，激素可以解释这一现象。此前就有研究发现，出生后成为“左撇子”与胚胎发育过程中接触睾丸激素过多有关。另外，以前对狗和马的研究也曾发现，这两种家养动物也存在与家猫类似的“肢体”使用偏好。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原始出处：
Animal Behaviour doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2009.06.010
Lateralized behaviour in the domestic cat, Felis silvestris catus
Deborah L. Wells, a, and Sarah Millsoppa
aSchool of Psychology, Queen's University Belfast, U.K.
Lateralized behaviour in the felids has been subject to little investigation. We examined the paw use of 42 domestic cats on three tasks designed to determine whether the animals performed asymmetrical motor behaviour. The influence of the cats' sex and age on their paw preferences was also explored. The distribution of the cats' paw preferences differed significantly between the three tasks. Task 1, the most complex exercise involving retrieval of a food treat from an empty jar, encouraged the most apparent display of lateralized behaviour, with all but one animal showing a strong preference to use either their left or right paw consistently. Tasks 2 (an exercise involving reaching for a toy suspended overhead) and 3 (a challenge involving reaching for a toy moving along the ground) encouraged ambilateral motor performance. Lateralized behaviour was strongly sex related. Male and female cats showed paw preferences at the level of the population, but in opposite directions. Females had a greater preference for using their right paw; males were more inclined to adopt their left paw. Feline age was unrelated to either strength or direction of preferred paw use. Overall, the findings suggest that there are two distinct populations of paw preference in the cat that cluster strongly around the animals’ sex. The results also point to a relationship between lateralized behaviour and task complexity. More apparent patterns of lateralized behaviour were evident on more complex manipulatory tasks, hinting at functional brain specialization in this species.
