Wrinkles Help Elephants Choose Left or Right Trunk Dominance

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Trunk Flex

Did you know elephants can be left or right trunked? Researchers learned more about how wrinkles influence trunk-dominance.

• Trunk wrinkles act like joints

• Formed during gestation

• Repeated use reinforces wrinkles on dominant side

Asian elephants have extra wrinkles compared to their African cousins to make up for 1 vs. 2 finger-like appendages. Mimicking nature’s tricks for trunks could improve future soft robotics development. Going forward, my t-shirts are “flexible”.

Can we call them trunkles?

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