Abstract: Preferential side use of limbs and sensory organs, defined as behavioral laterality, are shown by many animal species including human beings. Biological research on behavioral laterality has ecological and evolutionary significance. Behavioral laterality influences individual fitness at the individual level and works as one evolutionary stable strategy at the population level in social species. In China, nonhuman primate resources are abundant whereas behavioral laterality research on nonhuman primates started late; not until the 1980s'. The main purpose of this paper to summarize related research findings over the recent three decades and provide positive suggestions on the future of primate behavioral laterality research in China.

Key words: Behavioral adaptation, Brain lateralization, Task complexity theory, Postural origin theory

摘要： 行为偏侧是指动物进行某一行为时偏好使用某一侧肢体或感觉器官。行为偏侧作为脑偏侧所对应的可观测的行为指标，是动物行为适应性进化的代表性特征之一，它在个体水平上影响着个体适合度，在群体水平上是社会性物种的一种进化稳定策略，具有重要的生态和进化意义。中国非人灵长类资源丰富，而中国非人灵长类的行为偏侧研究起步较晚，始于二十世纪八十年代。本文系统归纳中国非人灵长类物种的行为偏侧研究进展，并基于当前研究现状，为今后发展提出积极建议。

关键词: 行为适应, 脑偏侧, 任务复杂度理论, 姿势起源理论