Throwing
Throwing is a physical action that consists of mechanically accelerating a projectile and then releasing it into a ballistic trajectory, usually with the aim of impacting a distant target.
Throwing typically refers to hand-throwing by animals with prehensile forelimbs, in which the projectile is grasped in a hand and the proximal limb segments move through compounded kinematic chains to impart a mechanical advantaged swinging motion.
Primates are the most proliferative throwers in the animal kingdom, and they typically throw feces as a form of agonistic behavior.
Of all primates, humans are by far the most capable throwers, and throw a large variety of projectiles with a much greater complexity, efficacy and accuracy.
Throughout human evolution, humans (especially Homo sapiens) have used hand-thrown projectiles for hunting and in warfare — first through rock-throwing, then refined weapon-throwing (e.g. spear, axe or dart), and into modern day with payload-carrying devices such as hand grenades, flashbangs and tear gas canisters.
Overhand throws are usually significantly faster, and ball speeds of 105 miles per hour (169 km/h) have been recorded in baseball.
The overhand throwing motion is a complex motor skill that involves the entire body in a series of linked movements starting from the legs, progressing up through the pelvis and trunk, and culminating in a ballistic motion in the arm that propels a projectile forward.
In that sense they differ from more specialized throwing techniques such as those developed in archery, where the projectiles have very strong requirements for their shape.
[6] Throwing is rare among non-primates but, provided the definition is relaxed to entail for instance spitting, several examples can be found amongst various taxa, such as camelids, cobras or the archerfish.
Elephants have been observed throwing rocks and logs, using their trunk to grab and flick items, although they lack the accuracy that primates can achieve, and it is more commonly used as a warning to aggressors.
