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The evolution of vertical climbing in primates: evidence from reaction forces
- Source :
- The Journal of experimental biology. 220(Pt 17)
- Publication Year :
- 2017
-
Abstract
- Vertical climbing is an essential behavior for arboreal animals, yet limb mechanics during climbing are poorly understood and rarely compared to those observed during horizontal walking. Primates commonly engage in both arboreal walking and vertical climbing, and this makes them an ideal taxa in which to compare these locomotor forms. Additionally, primates exhibit unusual limb mechanics compared to most other quadrupeds, with weight distribution biased towards the hindlimbs, a pattern that is argued to have evolved in response to the challenges of arboreal walking. Here we test an alternative hypothesis that functional differentiation between the limbs evolved initially as a response to climbing. Eight primate species were recorded locomoting on instrumented vertical and horizontal simulated arboreal runways. Forces along the axis of, and normal to, the support were recorded. During walking, all primates displayed forelimbs that were net braking, and hindlimbs that were net propulsive. In contrast, both limbs served a propulsive role during climbing. In all species, except the lorisids, the hindlimb produced greater propulsive forces than the forelimb during climbing. During climbing, the hindlimb tends to support compressive loads, while the forelimb forces tend to be primarily tensile. This functional disparity appears to be body-size dependent. The tensile loading of the forelimb versus the compressive loading of the hindlimb observed during climbing may have important evolutionary implications for primates, and it may be the case that hindlimb-biased weight support exhibited during quadrupedal walking in primates may be derived from their basal condition of climbing thin branches.
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
Primates
Arboreal locomotion
animal structures
Physiology
Hindlimb
Aquatic Science
010603 evolutionary biology
01 natural sciences
Trees
Weight-Bearing
Quadrupedalism
biology.animal
medicine
Animals
0601 history and archaeology
Primate
Molecular Biology
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Leg
060101 anthropology
biology
06 humanities and the arts
Anatomy
Biological Evolution
Vertical climbing
Biomechanical Phenomena
Compressive load
medicine.anatomical_structure
Insect Science
Climbing
Animal Science and Zoology
Forelimb
human activities
Locomotion
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 14779145
- Volume :
- 220
- Issue :
- Pt 17
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- The Journal of experimental biology
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....87686c36c28cfb8d69a7a540ab1efe85