Hind limb bones and locomotion in the Old World monkeys

Old World Monkeys

Old World monkeys, or cercopithecoids, are a diverse and widespread group of primates found throughout Africa and Asia. They are characterised by their specialised molar teeth, quadrupedal running behaviour, often spending more time on the ground than other primates, as well as their often large and complex social groups. They survive inthewidest rangeofhabitatsofanynonhumanprimates, with some ...

Old World Monkeys

Evolutionary rate variation in Old World monkeys.

We analysed over 8 million base pairs of bacterial artificial chromosome-based sequence alignments of four Old World monkeys and the human genome. Our findings are as follows. (i) Genomic divergences among several Old World monkeys mirror those between well-studied hominoids. (ii) The X-chromosome evolves slower than autosomes, in accord with 'male-driven evolution'. However, the degree of male...

The role of hind limb tendons in gibbon locomotion: springs or strings?

Tendon properties have an important effect on the mechanical behaviour of muscles, with compliant tendons allowing near-isometric muscle contraction and facilitating elastic energy storage and recoil. Stiff tendons, in contrast, facilitate rapid force transfer and precise positional control. In humans, the long Achilles tendon contributes to the mechanical efficiency of running via elastic ener...

Understanding hind limb weight support in chimpanzees with implications for the evolution of primate locomotion.

Most quadrupedal mammals support a larger amount of body weight on their forelimbs compared with their hind limbs during locomotion, whereas most primates support more of their body weight on their hind limbs. Increased hind limb weight support is generally interpreted as an adaptation that reduces stress on primates' highly mobile forelimb joints. Thus, increased hind limb weight support was l...