Mechanics of Fine Branch Locomotion in Primates and Opossums An Experimental Ananlysis of Ecological Convergence

100多年来，人们已经认识到，与大多数其他哺乳动物相比，包括人类在内的灵长类动物表现出不寻常的步态模式和力量分布。在整个世纪里，人们一直认为灵长类动物的这些独特的运动特征以及像抓握无爪手这样的解剖特征，是灵长类动物最初适应细枝运动和进食的结果。尽管这一情景具有直观的吸引力，但灵长类特征和树栖生活方式之间的机械关系仍然不确定。这项研究项目将在杜克大学脊椎动物运动实验室进行，旨在测试灵长类动物的解剖和步态特征与细枝运动之间的联系。研究人员将比较小型灵长类动物和负鼠在活动和进食树栖动物支撑物时的手脚使用、脚步模式和力量。之所以选择这两个种群，是因为它们的自然栖息地由细小的树枝组成。因此，它们代表了一种验证特定的形态和行为特征是否是这种生活方式所必需的方式。这项研究的数据不仅将帮助我们了解灵长类动物早期的适应，还将有助于揭示灵长类动物特殊运动模式的进化，如臂部和跨步两足动物。

For over 100 years, it has been recognized that primates, including humans, show unusual gait patterns and force distribution compared to those of most other mammals. Throughout this century, it has been assumed that these distinctive characteristics of primate movement as well as anatomical features such as grasping clawless hands, are the result of an initial adaptation of primates to moving and feeding on thin branches. Despite the intuitive appeal of this scenario, the mechanical relationships between primate features and arboreal lifestyle remain uncertain. This research project, to be carried out at the Duke University Vertebrate Movement Laboratory, is designed to test the link between primate anatomical and gait characteristics and thin branch locomotion. The researchers will compare hand and foot use, footfall patterns, and forces in small primates and opossums while they move and feed on arboreal supports. These two groups were chosen because their natural habitat is made up of thin branches. As a result, they represent a way to verify if specific morphological and behavioral traits are necessary for such a lifestyle. Data from this study will not only help us to understand early primate adaptations, but will also shed light on the evolution of specialized primate movement patterns, such as brachiation and striding bipedalism.