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同寻常的步态模式和力量分布。整个世纪以来，人们一直认为灵长类动物的这些独特的运动特征，以及诸如抓握无爪的手等解剖学特征，是灵长类动物最初适应在细树枝上运动和进食的结果。尽管这种情况直观地吸引人，但灵长类动物特征与树栖生活方式之间的机械关系仍然不确定。该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解剖和步态特征与细分支运动之间的联系。研究人员将比较小型灵长类动物和负鼠在树木支撑下移动和进食时的手脚使用、脚步模式和力量。选择这两组是因为它们的自然栖息地是由细树枝组成的。因此，它们代表了一种验证特定形态和行为特征是否是这种生活方式所必需的方法。这项研究的数据不仅有助于我们了解早期灵长类动物的适应性，而且还将揭示灵长类动物特殊运动模式的进化，如臂动和跨步两足动物。

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.