Journal ArticleDOI
Standardized descriptions of primate locomotor and postural modes
Kevin D. Hunt,John G. H. Cant,Daniel L. Gebo,Michael D. Rose,Suzanne E. Walker,Dionisios Youlatos +5 more
TLDR
32 primate positional modes are defined, divided more finely into 52 postural sub-modes and 74 locomotor sub-Modes, and a nomenclature is recommended that is not dedicated to or derived from any one taxonomic subset of the primates.Abstract:
As quantitative studies on primate positional behavior accumulate the lack of a standard positional mode terminology is becoming an increasingly serious deficiency. Inconsistent use of traditional terms and inappropriate conflation of mode categories hamper interspecific and interobserver comparisons. Some workers use common terms without definition, allowing at least the possibility of misunderstanding. Other researchers coin neologisms tailored to their study species and not clearly enough defined to allow application to other species. Such neologisms may overlap, may completely encompass, or may conflate previously defined labels. The result is, at best, the proliferation of synonyms and, at worst, the creation of confusion where clarity had existed. Historical precedents have sometimes resulted in “catch-all” terms that conflate any number of kinematically different behaviors (e.g. “brachiation,” “climbing,” and “quadrumanous climbing”). We recognize three areas where distinction of positional modes has some current importance: (1) Modes that require humeral abduction should be distinguished from adducted behaviors; (2) locomotor modes that involve ascent or descent should be distinguished from horizontal locomotor modes; and (3) suspensory modes should be distinguished from supported modes. We recommend a nomenclature that is not dedicated to or derived from any one taxonomic subset of the primates. Here we define 32 primate positional modes, divided more finely into 52 postural sub-modes and 74 locomotor sub-modes.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Functional morphology
Markus Forsberg,Aarne Ranta +1 more
TL;DR: Finite functions over hereditarily finite algebraic datatypes are used to implement natural language morphology in the functional language Haskell to make it easy for linguists, who are not trained as functional programmers, to apply the ideas to new languages.
Journal ArticleDOI
Origin of human bipedalism: The knuckle-walking hypothesis revisited.
TL;DR: The functional significance of characteristics of the shoulder and arm, elbow, wrist, and hand shared by African apes and humans, including their fossil relatives, most strongly supports theknuckle-walking hypothesis, which reconstructs the ancestor as being adapted to knuckle- walking and arboreal climbing.
Journal ArticleDOI
Origin of Human Bipedalism As an Adaptation for Locomotion on Flexible Branches
Susannah K. S. Thorpe,Susannah K. S. Thorpe,R. L. Holder,R. L. Holder,Robin H. Crompton,Robin H. Crompton +5 more
TL;DR: It is shown that the most arboreal great ape, the orangutan, is able to access supports too flexible to be negotiated otherwise, and is thus less an innovation than an exploitation of a locomotor behavior retained from the common great ape ancestor.
Journal ArticleDOI
Orangutan positional behavior and the nature of arboreal locomotion in Hominoidea
TL;DR: It is suggested that it is orthogrady in general, rather than forelimb suspend specifically, that characterizes the positional behavior of hominoids, similar to that of the African apes, and in particular, lowland gorillas.
Journal ArticleDOI
Ethogram and Ethnography of Mahale Chimpanzees
TL;DR: This paper aims to compile an exhaustive list of the behavioral patterns exhibited by the chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania, based on the glossary compiled by Goodall (1989), but a substantial numbers of new terms have been added.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Quantitative and functional studies on the hands of the anthropoidea. I. The Hominoidea
TL;DR: The hands of the Hominoidea evidence four adaptive modes which distinguish the lesse apes (Hylobatidae), the orangutan (Pongo), the African apes (Pan), and man (Homo) from one another.
Journal ArticleDOI
Positional behavior and body size of arboreal primates: A theoretical framework for field studies and an illustration of its application
TL;DR: This work offers a framework for research on functional relationships of positional behavior, body size, and habitat structure, with the ultimate objective of elucidating the aptive significance of the great diversity exhibited by arboreal primates.
Journal ArticleDOI
Positional behavior of female bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus)
TL;DR: The orangutan is by far the largest mammal that travels in forest canopy, and a consideration of the ways that its positional behavior solves problems posed by habitat structure, particularly the tapering of branches and gaps between trees, indicates that suspensory capacities have been essential in permitting the evolution and maintenance of its great body size.
Journal ArticleDOI
Locomotor diversity in prosimian primates.
TL;DR: An understanding of prosimian movement is basic to many anatomical and paleontological studies in that these studies attempt to correlate movement with anatomy and therefore infer movement in fossil primates.
Journal ArticleDOI
The leaping of langurs: A problem in the study of locomotor adaptation
TL;DR: Describing of the features of the home range commonly used by the gray langur, the kinds of postures and locomotor skills used there, as well as the sorts of social activities that occur in these places and postures are given.
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