Talk:Brachiator

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I would question the opinions about which primates should be included under the category of brachiators. I am currently taking a course on human evolution with Biruté Galdikas, and both her lecture material and the course text (Humankind emerging, 8th ed) firmly classify orangutans and most other great apes as brachiators. In addition, the primary reason claimed for the development of brachiation as a method of mobility is size (weight). For a small 4 ounce monkey, running around on top of branches on all fours is easy. Once you start to exceed a certain weight, balance becomes far more difficult, and it simply becomes easier to swing underneath branches with your arms.

Humans, at least according to Galdikas, are still anatomically brachiators. The only traits we seem to have lost are the extremely long arms and the upper body musculature. Our skeletal structure is still very well adapted to swinging around branches.