Gibbon Primates

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Locomotion, the act of moving from place to place, and determines how quickly they are able to move (Strier, 2000, p. 16) is the basis in the life of any living species. Locomotion is primarily used to get from point A to point B, but the ways in which locomotion is used could differ. Primate locomotion can vary among different types of primates. Some swing in the trees, others walk on all fours and others walk bipedal on their hind legs (Redmond, 2011). Nevertheless, locomotion is essential to the life of a primate. The gibbon family is infamous for brachiation, swinging from hand to hand on tree branches (Redmond, 2011). Orangutans, because of their larger size cannot branchiate as easily and are more commonly known for quadrumanual …show more content…
Their use of brachiation has become perfected, the bones in the hands and wrists have evolved to where there is now a ball and socket bone which allows for full rotation capabilities (Redmond, 2011). Studies on gibbon locomotion show that there are two different phases that make up the swing of a gibbon. The first is the swing phase, made up of continuous contact brachiation in which gibbons space their hands closely on tree branches to speed their movements. The second phase is the flight phase, which involves ricochetal brachiation in which there are periods of time where the gibbon’s hands do not come in contact with the tree branch: which makes for slower movements. It has been observed that both phases of the swing do not exert large amounts of energy loss (Usherwood & Bertram, 2003). However, there are times in which gibbons need to travel on the ground and are able to walk bipedal on their hind legs (Redmond, 2011). Orangutans also use brachiation, but it is modified to accommodate their large …show more content…
This is why orangutans have modified their means of transportation to quadrumanual climbing. They sway from branch to branch until they can grab the branch with an outstretched arm and then transfer from one branch to another (Redmond, 2011). Orangutans have been studied in the Sabagau Forest in Indonesia in which it was found that orangutans exhibit two different forms of posture in locomotion. The first is suspensory posture, which is used when an orangutan is either hanging or climbing in the trees. The second is compressive posture in which an orangutan’s body is compressed while walking upright or bipedal (Manduell, Morrogh-Bernard & Thorpe, 2011). Once again, this shows that even though transportation is somewhat modified for orangutans, they are able to walk upright and swing through the trees. Gorillas and chimps, although not known for swinging in the trees as a mode of transportation are commonly known to be
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