Everything about Brachiation totally explained
Brachiation (from "limb" or "branch") is a form of
arboreal locomotion in which
primates swing from tree limb to tree limb using only their arms.
Brachiators
The only true brachiators are the lesser
apes (
gibbons and
siamangs). A gibbon can brachiate at speeds as high as 35 mph and can travel as far as 20 feet with each swing.
Spider monkeys and
orangutans are considered semibrachiators.
Brachiation-aiding traits
Some of the traits that allow gibbons, siamangs, and other primates to brachiate include the following: short fingernails instead of claws, inward-closing, hook-like fingers, opposable thumbs, long forelimbs, and freely rotating shoulder joints.
Brachiation and humans
Modern humans retain many physical characteristics that suggest a protobrachiator ancestor, including flexible shoulder joints and fingers well-suited for grasping. In apes, these characteristics were adaptations for brachiation. Although humans don't normally brachiate, our anatomy suggests that brachiation may be a
preadaptation to
bipedalism, and healthy modern humans are still capable of brachiating. Some children’s parks include
monkey bars which children play on by brachiating.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Brachiation'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://brachiation.totallyexplained.com">Brachiation Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
