Dissertation Research: Ray Shafts Structure, Hand and Foot Postures, and Substrate Utilisation in Old World Monkeys

本研究的主要目的是建立手指和脚趾骨结构与猴子物种在地面和树上花费的时间之间的关系。研究人员预测，生活在地面上的动物的手指和脚趾骨所承受的压力应该比那些大部分时间生活在树上的动物要大。为了验证这一预测是否正确，研究者将使用结构工程方程计算脚趾和手指骨轴的强度。公式中使用的值将从10种猴子的手脚骨骼的x光片测量中获得。圈养和自由放养的每一种猴子都将被拍摄行走和奔跑。这些影像将被用来确定每个物种在地面和树枝上行走时常用的手和脚姿势。人们认为，人类的血统是从树栖祖先进化而来的，经过几百万年的进化，在陆地上生活的时间越来越长。本研究结果有助于重建早期古人类树栖特征的程度。

The primary objective of this research is to establish the relationship between finger and toe bone structure and the amount of time monkey species spend on the ground and in the trees. Researchers have predicted that stress on the finger and toe bones of animals living on the ground ought to be greater than those spending most of their time in the trees. To test whether this prediction is correct, the investigator will calculate the strength of toe and finger bone shafts using structural engineering equations. The values used in the equations will be obtained from measurements of radiographs of hand and foot bones of ten monkey species. Captive and free-ranging individuals of each of the monkey species will be filmed walking and running. The films will be used to determine the hand and foot postures each species commonly uses when walking on the ground and branches. It is thought that the human lineage evolved from arboreal ancestors and, over several million years, evolved to spend more and more time on ground. Results from this study may help in reconstructing the degree of arboreality characteristic of early hominoids.