Dissertation Research: Arboreal-Terrestrial Adaptations inPedal Functional Morphology in Cercopithecus and Cercocebus

古人类学的一个重要问题是早期人类的两足动物的发展。为了充分了解人类足部对陆地生活的适应性，需要研究分析其他陆地灵长类动物足部的适应性。在这项研究中，研究人员将分析在旧大陆发现的猴群Cercopithecus和Cercocebus的14种功能足形态。学生将识别与从树栖到陆地运动模式转变相关的足功能的种间差异。这项独特的研究将增加我们对脚踏适应陆地运动趋势的理解。这将增加我们对各种灵长类动物群体和早期原始人类向陆地过渡过程中足部结构变化的理解。清晰地建立形态和行为之间的联系，是建立理论框架的基础，以此来解释生态学与灵长类化石和早期原始人的位置行为之间的关系。

One of the important issues in paleoanthropology is the development of bipedalism in early hominids. In order to adequately understand the adaptations of the human foot for terrestriality, studies are needed that analyze the adaptations in the feet of other terrestrial primate groups. In this study, the researcher will analyze the functional foot morphology of fourteen species of Cercopithecus and Cercocebus, monkey groups found in the Old World. The student will identify interspecific differences in foot function associated with shifts from an arboreal to a terrestrial mode of locomotion. This unique study will increase our understanding of the trends in pedal adaptation to terrestrial locomotion. It will add to our understanding of the structural modifications in the foot associated with the transition to terrestriality in various primate groups and in early hominids. Clearly establishing this correlation between morphology and behavior is fundamental to establishing the theoretical framework by which to intrepret the relationship between ecology and the positional behavior of fossil primates and early hominids.