Comparative Primates - Locomotor Patterns

Lemurs (Prosimians/Strepsirhini)

Environment:  ring tailed lemurs are found on the Island of Madagascar off the eastern coast of Africa and the Comoro Islands.  There are many trees with food.  They are the only non-human primates on the island, so there is no competition from apes and monkeys.

Locomotion:  ring-tailed lemurs are terrestrial, they spend time in the trees but mostly on the ground.  Ring tailed lemurs are diurnal.  These lemurs move quadrupedally on branches of trees and the ground, they are vertical clingers and leapers. Their tails are used for balance to stand or jump from one branch to the next.

Lemurs are sociable and eat mostly fruit and leaves; their climbing and grasping abilities are a great adaptation for lemurs as they use these abilities to access their food on trees.   Lemurs use their tails for balance while on branches or to stand on the ground.

            Spider Monkey (New World Monkey/Platyrrhini)

Environment:  Spider monkeys are found in tropical forests of Central and South America.  These are mostly arboreal environments.  They are dependent on fruits, leaves and insects.

Locomotion:  Spider monkeys are diurnal.  They are semibrachiatiors, leapers and use their prehensile tail to suspend from trees (like having a fifth hand).  Spider monkeys rarely come to the ground.

Spider monkeys have adapted to the tree life.  They rarely come to the ground, which is a great defense from predators.  Their long arms and prehensile tail allow for swift movement in top levels of the rainforest trees.  They also use their prehensile tail to hang from trees to feed. 

Baboon (Old World Monkey/Cercopithecidae)

Environment:  Baboons live mostly in Africa, they prefer grassland although some live in tropical forests. They sleep in the trees and are opportunistic eaters.

Locomotion:  Baboons are diurnal.  They are semi-terrestrial and move quadrupedally.   Baboons spend most of their time on the ground but they do climb trees in order to watch for predators, eat and sleep.

Baboons have adapted to their environment partly on the ground as well as the trees.  Although they do not have a prehensile tail to help move around in the trees, they can still climb.  Baboons not only eat from trees they will also eat rodents, birds, and even small mammals such as sheep.

Gibbon (Lesser ape/Hylobatidae)

Environment:  Gibbons live in forests of Southern Asia.  They are arboreal as they rarely see the ground.

Locomotion:  Gibbons primarily live in trees and rarely come to the ground.  Their primary mode of movement is brachiation.  They have long arms and curved hands used to grasp branches.  Gibbons use their extremely long arms for reaching branches and strong legs to propel themselves.  They are also slow quadrumanous climbers.  Gibbons walk on branches and rarely on the ground but they do so with a bipedal locomotion.

Gibbons have significantly adapted to life in the trees.  They are able to move through the trees at unbelievable speeds protecting themselves from predators.  With their long arms they have the ability to swing out and take fruits that might be more difficult for their competition.

Chimpanzee (Great ape/Hominidae)

Environment:  Chimpanzees may be found in Central Africa in savannahs or tropical rain forests.  Chimpanzees eat leaves, fruit, nuts, insects, bird’s eggs and small mammals such as bushpigs or monkeys.  They are arboreal as they spend a lot of their time in trees.

Locomotion:  Chimpanzees are diurnal. They are terrestrial.  Chimpanzees are quadrupedal knuckle-walkers.  Young chimpanzees are known to brachiate.  Chimpanzees walk bipedally on the ground if they are transporting something such as food.  Chimpanzees also have the ability to swing in the trees where they spend most of their time, whether it is sleeping or eating.

Chimpanzees have adapted tremendously to their environment.   They have the ability swing through the trees where they eat and sleep.  They are also able to walk bipedally after capturing their prey, thus freeing the hands of the chimpanzees in order to carry their food. 

     Each one of the primates locomotor traits described above have adapted to their respective environments in significant ways.  Whether it is a tail for balance as seen in the lemurs or a prehensile tail in the spider monkey used as a "fifth hand."  Baboons and Chimpanzees have both adapted to lives in the trees and the ground.  There is also the brachiation used by the gibbons but also seen in spider monkeys.  Bipedalism is seen in both gibbons and chimpanzees.   Each one of these primates have adapted in one way or another, whether it be walking, swinging, hanging, eating or sleeping.  The pressures of their environments has played a substantial role on the expression of physical and behavioral traits.