Doctoral Dissertation Improvement: Vertical Climbing Efficiency in Primates

垂直攀爬被认为在灵长类动物运动特化的进化中发挥了重要作用。作为一个主要的树栖辐射，所有灵长类动物定期攀登。然而，几乎没有人知道灵长类动物或任何其他哺乳动物攀爬的能量消耗。 因此，他们是解决垂直攀登力学问题的理想群体。 一些灵长类动物，如猿，蜘蛛猴和懒猴，具有公认的攀爬的形态和行为适应。 这些适应，如长的四肢和长的步幅，被认为是在悬挂运动和两足动物的进化中很重要的。 为这里提出的项目收集的数据将填补我们知识中的一个关键空白，涉及攀爬的力学以及这种重要运动行为的颅后解剖学和代谢成本之间的关系。 这项研究将收集灵长类动物攀登的能量成本数据，并将这些成本与步长进行比较，以确定长步长是否在攀登过程中提供能量优势。 研究将在北卡罗来纳州达勒姆的杜克大学灵长类动物中心和佛罗里达州宅基地的猴子丛林/杜蒙德保护区进行。 研究人员将对这些物种的受试者在一种新型的垂直绳索跑步机上攀爬时进行录像，同时收集氧气消耗数据以估计能量消耗。 这项研究的结果将提供关于非人类灵长类动物攀爬的能量成本的第一个定量数据，并有助于更广泛地了解攀爬动力学。 这些数据对于理解灵长类动物对攀爬的适应，以及最终像两足动物这样的专门运动的进化都很重要。 这项研究的广泛影响有三方面。 首先，该项目通过帮助一名女研究生进行论文研究，支持妇女在科学领域发展成为一流的教师和研究人员。 第二，在这个项目中开发的方法和结论将包括在PI和Co-PI教授的本科人类学课程中。 最后，本项目打算直接让杜克大学和佛罗里达大学的本科生参与本研究。

Vertical climbing is thought to have played a major role in the evolution of locomotor specializations within primates. As a primarily arboreal radiation, all primates regularly climb. However, almost nothing is known about energetic costs of climbing in primates or any other mammals. As a result they are an ideal group in which to address questions concerning the mechanics of vertical climbing. Some primates, such as apes, spider monkeys, and lorises, have putative morphological and behavioral adaptations for climbing. These adaptations, like long limbs and long stride lengths, are argued to have been important in the evolution of suspensory locomotion and bipedalism. The data collected for the project proposed here will fill a critical gap in our knowledge concerning the mechanics of climbing and the relationship between postcranial anatomy and metabolic costs for this important locomotor behavior. This research will collect data on the energy costs of climbing in primates and compare these costs to step length in order to determine whether long steps provide an energetic advantage during climbing. Research will be conducted at the Duke University Primate Center, Durham, NC, and the Monkey Jungle/DuMond Conservancy, Homestead, FL. Five species of primates will be examined, three species with long limbs and two, more generalized species. Subjects of each of these species will be videotaped during climbing on a novel, vertical rope treadmill while the researchers collect oxygen consumption data to estimate energetic cost. The results of this study will provide the first quantitative data on the energetic costs of climbing in non-human primates, and contribute to a broader knowledge of climbing dynamics. Such data will be important for understanding primate adaptations to climbing, and ultimately the evolution of specialized locomotion like bipedalism. The broader impacts of this study are three-fold. First, this project supports the development of women in science as both first-rate teachers and researchers by contributing to a female graduate student's dissertation research. Second, the methods and conclusions developed in this project will be included in undergraduate anthropology classes taught by the PI and Co-PI. Finally, this project intends to directly involve undergraduates from both Duke University and the University of Florida in this research.