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Field Study Methods for Primate Locomotor Ecology and Biomechanics

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Primate Locomotion

Part of the book series: Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects ((DIPR))

Abstract

Primates has perhaps the greatest diversity of locomotor behavior of any mammalian Order. This may reflect its predominantly arboreal nature: Primates have to navigate a complexly three-dimensional environment comprised of irregularly spaced, discontinuous, often unstable supports. This complexity offers both challenges and opportunities for those wishing to understand primate locomotor adaptation, and requires understanding of both the biomechanical and the ecological interactions between a primate’s locomotor capabilities and the environment(s) to which it is exposed during an individual’s life history and that of its clade. We distinguish between phenomena that require study under controlled, usually laboratory, conditions; those that can equally or better be studied in the natural environment; and those that can legitimately be studied only in the natural environment. We ­suggest methods for field studies and discuss how new technologies are blurring the distinction between laboratory and field and permitting a true “field biomechanics.”

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Abbreviations

a :

vertical height change

b :

horizontal distance traveled

BMR:

basal metabolic rate

c :

mechanically effective bout length

COM:

center of mass

FMR:

field metabolic rate

fps:

frames per second

GPS:

global positioning system

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Aging and Chronic Disease, The University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

    Mary L. Blanchard

Authors
  1. Mary L. Blanchard
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  2. Robin H. Crompton
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mary L. Blanchard .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, Antwerp, B-2610, Belgium

    Kristiaan D'Août

  2. Faculty of Medicine, Anatomy, Catholic University Leuven, KULAK, Belgium

    Evie E. Vereecke

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Blanchard, M.L., Crompton, R.H. (2011). Field Study Methods for Primate Locomotor Ecology and Biomechanics. In: D'Août, K., Vereecke, E. (eds) Primate Locomotion. Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1420-0_10

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