News Anthropology

Humanlike thumb dexterity may date back as far as 2 million years ago

Improved grip gave tool-wielding ancestors an advantage over related hominids

Hand gripping a handhold at a climbing gym

Thumbs with humanlike dexterity and power — demonstrated here by someone grasping a handhold at an indoor climbing gym — emerged around 2 million years ago.

Cavan Images/Cavan/Getty Images

By Bruce Bower

- More than 2 years ago

Thumb dexterity similar to that of people today already existed around 2 million years ago, possibly in some of the earliest members of our own genus Homo, a new study indicates.