U.S. scientists studying the process of hammering a nail say they found men are more accurate than women when hammering under poor lighting conditions.

But the University of Massachusetts-Amherst researchers conversely found women are more accurate than men when hammering in good light, regardless of target size.

Associate Professor Duncan Irschick and his team said their findings suggest humans have remarkable compensatory ability during difficult motor tasks such as hammering in the dark.

Irschick says he is now planning to focus future studies on understanding how hammering ability evolved in humans from early development to adulthood.

He presented his findings in Glasgow, Scotland, Sunday during the annual meeting of the Society of Experimental Biology.