Page 134 - Once Upon a Time There Was Darwinism

Once Upon a Time
There Was Darwinism

Gould claimed that this bone in the panda's
hand was non-functional. Gould was so convinced of the
importance of his thesis that in 1980, he published a book on

the subject.
Like Dawkins' claim, however, Gould's thesis of faulty char-
acteristic was also wrong. Gould's error lay in comparing the
panda's hand with that of a human, assuming that the panda's
thumb had the same function. On this matter, Paul Nelson makes
the following comment:

Although the panda's thumb may be suboptimal for many tasks
(such as typing), it does seem suited for what appears to be its usual
function, stripping bamboo. 77

The authors of The Giant Pandas of Wolong comment as fol-
lows:
The panda can handle bamboo stems with great precision, by hold-
ing them as if with forceps in the hairless groove connecting the pad
of the first digit and pseudothumb. . . When watching a panda eat
leaves. . . we were always impressed by its dexterity. Forepaws and
mouth work together with great precision, with great economy of
motion. . . 78
In a research published in 1999 by the magazine Nature
showed that in its natural environment, the panda's thumb was
extremely useful. This joint project conducted by four Japanese re-
searchers employed computed tomography and magnetic reso-
nance imaging techniques and found that the panda's thumb is
"one of the most extraordinary manipulation systems" in the
79
world of mammals. This following comment comes
from the same article, titled "Role of the Giant
Panda's Pseudo-thumb":

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