Doctoral Dissertation Improvement: Vertical Climbing Efficiency in Primates

垂直攀爬被认为在灵长类动物运动专门化的进化中发挥了重要作用。作为一种主要的树栖辐射，所有灵长类动物都会定期攀爬。然而，几乎对灵长类或任何其他哺乳动物攀爬的能量成本知之甚少。因此，他们是一个理想的群体，在其中解决有关垂直攀登的力学问题。一些灵长类动物，如类人猿、蜘蛛猴和懒猴，据推测在形态和行为上都适应攀爬。这些适应，如长肢和大步幅，被认为在悬挂式运动和两足动物的进化中起到了重要作用。为这里提出的项目收集的数据将填补我们关于攀岩力学以及这一重要运动行为的颅后解剖和代谢成本之间的关系的知识的一个关键空白。这项研究将收集灵长类动物攀爬的能量成本数据，并将这些成本与步长进行比较，以确定在攀登过程中，长步是否提供能量优势。研究将在北卡罗来纳州达勒姆的杜克大学灵长类中心和佛罗里达州霍姆斯特德的猴子丛林/杜蒙德保护协会进行。将研究五种灵长类动物，三种四肢较长的物种和两种更广义的物种。当研究人员收集氧气消耗数据以估计能量成本时，这些物种的受试者将在一种新型的垂直绳索跑步机上攀登时被拍摄下来。这项研究的结果将为非人类灵长类动物攀登的能量成本提供第一个量化数据，并有助于更广泛地了解攀爬动力学。这些数据将对理解灵长类动物对攀登的适应，以及最终像两足动物这样的专门运动的进化将是重要的。这项研究的更广泛影响有三个方面。首先，该项目通过为一名女性研究生的论文研究做出贡献，支持科学领域的女性发展为一流的教师和研究人员。其次，在这个项目中开发的方法和结论将被包括在由PI和Co-PI教授的本科生人类学课程中。最后，这个项目打算让杜克大学和佛罗里达大学的本科生直接参与这项研究。

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.