Brachiation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section does not cite its references or sources.
Please help improve this article by introducing appropriate citations. (help, get involved!) This article has been tagged since October 2006.

Brachiation (to brachiate) means to move by swinging with the arms from one hold to another (like one maneuvers on an Overhead ladder); for example through a tree, using branches as holds. Many primates use this method to move through forest quickly. True brachiation is only seen in lesser apes (gibbons) and spider monkeys. In some cases, especially in lesser apes, the animal can go through the tree faster than a human running on the ground.

Brachiation in humans is considered by anthropologists to be a preadaptation to bipedialism.

[edit] See also


 This animal-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../b/r/a/Brachiation.html"
In other languages