Locomotor Patterns of Primates

Lemurs

A. Lemurs live on the island Madagascar. Madagascar's terrain varies from beautiful coastal beaches and stretches of serene grassland to raging rivers winding through mountainous regions and dry expanses ­of desert.

B. Lemurs are primarily known for their ability to leap from tree to tree. 

C. Because of Madagascar's environment, lemur's do not usually live in trees nor the land because of the poor soil. Also, because of the poor soil, food for the lemurs is usually found on trees. This allowed lemurs to adapt to their environment and gave them the ability to climb trees for food. Lemurs are also vulnerable to most predators so they developed the ability to leap from tree to tree in order to avoid certain demise. 

Spider Monkeys

A. Spider Monkeys live primarily in rain forest habitats usually in Central and South America. 

B. The spider monkey's locomotor pattern consists of quadrupedal, suspensory, or bipedalism. Quadrupedal is the the idea of the primate using all four limbs to travel, suspensory is the idea of the monkey hanging, gliding, or climbing through trees, and bipedalism is the concept of using two limbs while leaping. 

C. Since spider monkeys are in a habitat with mostly trees, they developed certain physical traits to allow them to move around their environment. Their tail is designed to balance the monkey while swinging from tree to tree. 

Baboon

A. Baboon's live primarily in Africa or Arabia. Baboons generally prefer savanna and other semi-arid habitats, though a few live in tropical forests.

B. Baboons locomotor pattern is walking quadrupedally, meaning on all fours. Because they are semi-terrestrial they stay on the ground during the day but also climb trees to sleep at night. Baboons do not have prehensile tails because it is not needed as much as other primates.

C. The baboon's locomotor patterns are what they are because of the environment. Since they do not usually climb trees, there is no need for a tail like most monkeys. The extra limb would be wasted because the monkey tends to always stay on the ground. 

Gibbon

A. They are primarily found in the tropical and subtropical rain-forests of the South, East and Southeast Asia. Gibbons spend most of their lives in trees.

B. Gibbon's locomotor patterns consist of brachiating, in which they travel from tree to tree by swinging on the branches. There are some times they walk with it's two limbs, but their primary way of traveling is by swinging. 

C. The environment that the gibbons are placed in influenced the gibbons in which they developed long arms to swing from tree to tree. This let's the primate travel faster and escape from any dangers that threaten it. This ability makes the gibbon almost impossible to catch. 

Chimpanzee

A. Chimpanzees are mainly found in grasslands, African rain-forests, and woodlands. 

B. The chimpanzee's locomotor pattern consists of walking quadrupedally. Chimpanzee's are one of the few primates, along with gorillas, that walk on with their fists. They also carry the ability to swing from between trees to gather food. 

C. The chimpanzee's locomotor trait is crucial to it's environment. Between gathering food and and swinging on tree's, the chimpanzee is constantly adapting to it's environment. 

I believe that the environment plays a significant role in the physical and behavioral traits of every primate. Each primate that I studied had a special trait that was influenced by their environment. Being physically adaptive to their habitat, I saw that they are also behavioral and emotionally adapted to their environment. While some primates have physical features to help them survive such as long arms, others have an extended tail for benefits of their environment. I learned that environments play a really big significant role to primates locomotor patterns.