OBJECTIVES: Laboratory studies have yielded important insights into primate locomotor mechanics. Nevertheless, laboratory studies fail to capture the range of ecological and structural variation encountered by free-ranging primates. We present…
Recently proposed ancestral locomotor and morphological 'stages' leading to the evolution of primates have emphasized small body size, and a transition from a clawed non-grasping stage, to a clawed, grasping stage with clawless opposable hallux, to a…
Objectives: Primate diagonal sequence (DS) gaits are often argued to be an adaptation for moving and foraging in the fine‐branch niche; however, existing data have come predominantly from laboratory studies that are limited in taxonomic breadth and…
Functional studies of skeletal anatomy are predicated on the fundamental assumption that form will follow function. For instance, previous studies have shown that the femora of specialized leaping primates are more robust than those of more…
Locomotor features shared by arboreal marsupials and primates are frequently cited as a functional complex that evolved in the context of a "fine branch niche." Adaptation to a fine branch niche cannot be understood without considering that small and…
Arboreal mammals face unique challenges to locomotor stability. This is particularly true with respect to juveniles, who must navigate substrates similar to those traversed by adults, despite a reduced body size and neuromuscular immaturity.…
Wild primates encounter complex matrices of substrates that differ in size, orientation, height, and compliance, and often move on multiple, discontinuous substrates within a single bout of locomotion. Our current understanding of primate gait is…
