TY - JOUR
T1 - Headfirst descent behaviors in a comparative sample of strepsirrhine primates
AU - Perchalski, Bernadette
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by the Duke Lemur Center Director's Fund and the National Science Foundation (NSF BCS‐1751686). Thank you to Daniel Schmitt for advice and comments on this manuscript, and to Doug Boyer, Christine Wall, Ken Glander, and Jesse Young for their feedback and comments on this doctoral dissertation research. Thank you to members of the Duke Animal Locomotion and Evolutionary Morphology labs for continual feedback on this project. Thank you to Erin Ehmke, David Brewer, Kay Welser, Melanie Simmons, Meg Dye, and Erin Hecht of the Duke Lemur Center for their help in working with the animals. Finally, thank you to the two anonymous reviewers who offered valuable feedback to improve this paper. This is Duke Lemur Center publication no. 1476.
Funding Information:
This research was supported by the Duke Lemur Center Director's Fund and the National Science Foundation (NSF BCS-1751686). Thank you to Daniel Schmitt for advice and comments on this manuscript, and to Doug Boyer, Christine Wall, Ken Glander, and Jesse Young for their feedback and comments on this doctoral dissertation research. Thank you to members of the Duke Animal Locomotion and Evolutionary Morphology labs for continual feedback on this project. Thank you to Erin Ehmke, David Brewer, Kay Welser, Melanie Simmons, Meg Dye, and Erin Hecht of the Duke Lemur Center for their help in working with the animals. Finally, thank you to the two anonymous reviewers who offered valuable feedback to improve this paper. This is Duke Lemur Center publication no. 1476.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC
PY - 2021/6
Y1 - 2021/6
N2 - The ability to safely ascend and descend is critical to the success of arboreal animals. Nonprimate mammals typically descend supports headfirst aided by their claws, but primates must rely on grasping, and use a variety of behaviors to move down within an arboreal environment, including headfirst and tailfirst descending. This study assesses hypothesized body mass limits on vertical headfirst descent and identifies approximate support orientations and diameters at which headfirst descent is ceased in a sample of nine strepsirrhines species ranging in mass from 0.06 to 4.5 kg. Species under 1 kg, arboreal quadrupeds Cheirogaleus medius and Microcebus murinus, and slow climber Nycticebus pygmaeus, always descended supports headfirst regardless of orientation and diameter as long as a grasp could be established. Arboreal quadrupedal species above 1 kg, Daubetonia madagascariensis, Eulemur coronatus, Eulemur mongoz, Lemur catta, and Varecia variegata differed in the orientation at which they ceased using headfirst descent and the types of alternative descending behaviors they employed. Lemur catta, a highly terrestrial species, started to employ tailfirst descents at 45° and completely stopped using headfirst descent on steeper and thicker supports. Other arboreal quadrupeds, D. madagascariensis, E. coronatus, E. mongoz, and V. variegata, began using tailfirst descent at 60°. The vertical clinging and leaping species Propithecus coquereli rarely engaged in above branch quadrupedalism, and individuals were observed using tailfirst descents on supports as shallow as 15°. This study shows the ways in which mass and anatomy may constrain use of headfirst descent through arboreal environments, and the alternate strategies strepsirrhine primates employ to descend.
AB - The ability to safely ascend and descend is critical to the success of arboreal animals. Nonprimate mammals typically descend supports headfirst aided by their claws, but primates must rely on grasping, and use a variety of behaviors to move down within an arboreal environment, including headfirst and tailfirst descending. This study assesses hypothesized body mass limits on vertical headfirst descent and identifies approximate support orientations and diameters at which headfirst descent is ceased in a sample of nine strepsirrhines species ranging in mass from 0.06 to 4.5 kg. Species under 1 kg, arboreal quadrupeds Cheirogaleus medius and Microcebus murinus, and slow climber Nycticebus pygmaeus, always descended supports headfirst regardless of orientation and diameter as long as a grasp could be established. Arboreal quadrupedal species above 1 kg, Daubetonia madagascariensis, Eulemur coronatus, Eulemur mongoz, Lemur catta, and Varecia variegata differed in the orientation at which they ceased using headfirst descent and the types of alternative descending behaviors they employed. Lemur catta, a highly terrestrial species, started to employ tailfirst descents at 45° and completely stopped using headfirst descent on steeper and thicker supports. Other arboreal quadrupeds, D. madagascariensis, E. coronatus, E. mongoz, and V. variegata, began using tailfirst descent at 60°. The vertical clinging and leaping species Propithecus coquereli rarely engaged in above branch quadrupedalism, and individuals were observed using tailfirst descents on supports as shallow as 15°. This study shows the ways in which mass and anatomy may constrain use of headfirst descent through arboreal environments, and the alternate strategies strepsirrhine primates employ to descend.
KW - arboreal locomotion
KW - tailfirst descent
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85103984789&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/ajp.23259
DO - 10.1002/ajp.23259
M3 - Article
C2 - 33792948
AN - SCOPUS:85103984789
SN - 0275-2565
VL - 83
JO - American Journal of Primatology
JF - American Journal of Primatology
IS - 6
M1 - e23259
ER -