Читать книгу Anthropology For Dummies - Cameron M. Smith - Страница 89

Moving quadrupedally means moving on four legs or feet, and it’s how many monkey species get around. It involves using both the hands and feet to grasp relatively horizontal tree limbs, which they walk on with great skill and a seemingly daredevil attitude. But evolution has shaped their instincts and abilities, and although accidents happen, they’re infrequent enough not to have extinguished this kind of locomotion. The arboreal quadrupeds have the following anatomical characteristics:

 Strong arms and legs.

 Relatively low body weight (most of them).

 A divergent big toe, such that their feet look much like our hands, with the big toe sticking off to the side; this allows the feet to be used like hands, to grasp tree limbs.

 A prominent tail (in most species) used as a balance; one kind of primate, the spider monkey, has a prehensile tail that can be carefully controlled to wrap around objects and hold them, just like a hand.