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COMPLIANT INTERACTIONS AND LIMB MECHANICS DURING ARBOREAL LOCOMOTION IN TROPICAL FOREST ENVIRONMENTS

热带森林环境中树栖运动期间的顺应相互作用和肢体力学

基本信息

批准号：
NE/F003730/1
负责人：
Roland Ennos
金额：
$ 13.24万
依托单位：
University of Manchester
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2008
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2008 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FF003730%2F1
关键词：
COMPLIANT INTERACTIONS LIMB MECHANICS DURING

项目摘要

Sumatran orangutans are the largest mammal to live an exclusively arboreal lifestyle and yet they habitually navigate the slender, peripheral branches of trees - the terminal branch niche - where the majority of tasty fruits and the narrowest gaps between tree crowns are situated. Theoretically they should access these slender branches either by suspending underneath them or walking on all fours on top with highly flexed joints to reduce branch vibrations. But contrary to these predictions we have shown that orangutans actually walk bipedally (that is, like humans) on the very smallest flexible branches, using their long prehensile toes to grip multiple supports and increase stability, while freeing one or both hands to reach fruits or other branches for gap crossing. Interestingly and unlike all other monkeys and apes tested to date (including chimpanzees and gorillas), orangutans maintain very straight legs when they walk bipedally in the trees. The benefits of this are unclear, but are important for 3 key reasons. Firstly, orangutans are an important model for the locomotor ecology of arboreal animals and the relationship between large body mass and the terminal branch niche. Secondly, arboreal bipedalism is increasingly thought to have been a fundamental component of the locomotor repertoire of the common ancestor of all apes and elucidating its ecology and mechanics will aid interpretation of the Miocene fossil record and the evolution of locomotor diversity in the living apes. Finally, increasing evidence suggests that the origins of human terrestrial bipedality lie in locomotion in an arboreal rather than terrestrial setting and studying the locomotor ecology and mechanics of arboreal bipedalism may shed light on the formative stages of the evolution of our own bipedality. The suggestion that bipedality evolved in the trees and has been present to some extent since the split from the old world monkeys is key to the distinction between the human and chimpanzee fossil record, since adaptations for bipedality have traditionally been taken to define human ancestors from those of the other African apes. In this proposal we combine studies of wild orangutans with those of zoo orangutans and humans to quantify the mechanics of arboreal bipedality, and crucially, how these change in accordance with changes in the mechanics of the branches, since branches taper and become more flexible towards the ends. It is possible that the straight legged postures might enable either transfer of energy between joints; or the transfer of energy from the flexible branches to the orangutan, in the same way as human athletes recover energy when running on springy running tracks. To study these we will use a relatively new technique in gait analysis, ultrasound, to record the behaviour of the muscles and tendons during locomotion in humans and orangutans. When merged with data on muscle activity and mechanics this will allow us to obtain a complete picture of internal and external energy storage and transfer during arboreal bipedality. We will also complement these data with computer modeling to mimic energy transfer from branches and between joints in situations that are not possible or practical to test experimentally.

苏门答腊猩猩是完全生活在树上的最大的哺乳动物，但它们习惯在细长的边缘树枝上行走——末端树枝壁龛——大多数美味的水果和树冠之间最狭窄的缝隙都位于这里。从理论上讲，它们应该通过悬浮在这些细长的树枝下面，或者用四肢在上面行走，关节高度弯曲，以减少树枝的振动。但与这些预测相反，我们已经证明，猩猩实际上是两足行走的（也就是说，像人类一样），在最小的柔性树枝上行走，用它们长长的能抓握的脚趾来抓住多个支撑物，增加稳定性，同时腾出一只或两只手来够水果或其他树枝，以便穿过缝隙。有趣的是，与迄今为止测试过的所有其他猴子和猿类（包括黑猩猩和大猩猩）不同，猩猩在树上两足行走时保持着非常直的腿。这样做的好处还不清楚，但有三个重要原因。首先，猩猩是研究树栖动物运动生态学以及大体重与末端分支生态位关系的重要模型。其次，越来越多的人认为，树栖两足动物是所有猿类共同祖先运动能力的基本组成部分，阐明其生态学和力学将有助于解释中新世化石记录和现存猿类运动多样性的进化。最后，越来越多的证据表明，人类陆地两足动物的起源是在树栖环境中而不是在陆地环境中运动，研究树栖两足动物的运动生态学和运动机制可能有助于了解我们自己的两足动物进化的形成阶段。两足动物是从树上进化而来的，并且在某种程度上自从从旧大陆的猴子中分离出来以来就一直存在，这是区分人类和黑猩猩化石记录的关键，因为对两足动物的适应传统上被认为是人类祖先与其他非洲猿类的区别。在这个提议中，我们将野生猩猩的研究与动物园猩猩和人类的研究结合起来，量化树栖两足行走的机制，最重要的是，这些机制是如何随着分支机制的变化而变化的，因为分支逐渐变细，向末端变得更灵活。直腿的姿势可能会使关节之间的能量传递；或者将能量从柔软的树枝转移到猩猩身上，就像人类运动员在有弹性的跑道上跑步时恢复能量一样。为了研究这些，我们将使用一种相对较新的步态分析技术，超声波，来记录人类和猩猩运动过程中肌肉和肌腱的行为。当与肌肉活动和力学数据相结合时，这将使我们能够获得树栖两足行走过程中内部和外部能量储存和转移的完整图像。我们还将用计算机建模来补充这些数据，以模拟在不可能或不实际的情况下从分支和关节之间的能量传递。