BrachiationBrachiation (from "brachium", Latin for "arm"), or arm swinging, is a form of arboreal locomotion in which primates swing from tree limb to tree limb using only their arms. During brachiation, the body is alternately supported under each forelimb. This form of locomotion is the primary means of locomotion for the small gibbons and siamangs of southeast Asia. Gibbons in particular use brachiation for as much as 80% of their locomotor activities.
Squatting positionSquatting is a versatile posture where the weight of the body is on the feet but the knees and hips are bent. In contrast, sitting involves supporting the weight of the body on the ischial tuberosities of the pelvis, with the lower buttocks in contact with the ground or a horizontal object. The angle between the legs when squatting can vary from zero to widely splayed out, flexibility permitting.
Arboreal locomotionArboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The habitats pose numerous mechanical challenges to animals moving through them and lead to a variety of anatomical, behavioral and ecological consequences as well as variations throughout different species.
GraspA grasp is an act of taking, holding or seizing firmly with (or as if with) the hand. An example of a grasp is the handshake, wherein two people grasp one of each other's like hands. In zoology particularly, prehensility is the quality of an appendage or organ that has adapted for grasping or holding. Grasping is often preceded by reaching, which is highly dependent on head and trunk control, as well as eye control and gaze.
QuadrupedalismQuadrupedalism is a form of locomotion in which animals have four legs that are used to bear weight and move around. An animal or machine that usually maintains a four-legged posture and moves using all four legs is a quadruped (Latinquadru- 'four' and ped- 'foot'). Quadruped animals are found among both vertebrates and invertebrates. Quadrupeds vs. tetrapodsAlthough the words quadruped and tetrapod are both derived from terms meaning four-footed, they have distinct meanings.
StandingStanding, also referred to as orthostasis, is a position in which the body is held in an upright (orthostatic) position and supported only by the feet. Although seemingly static, the body rocks slightly back and forth from the ankle in the sagittal plane, which bisects the body into right and left sides. The sway of quiet standing is often likened to the motion of an inverted pendulum.
HipIn vertebrateanatomy, the hip, or coxa (pl.: coxae) in medical terminology, refers to either an anatomical region or a joint on the outer (lateral) side of the pelvis. The hip region is located lateral and anterior to the gluteal region, inferior to the iliac crest, and lateral to the obturator foramen, with muscle tendons and soft tissues overlying the greater trochanter of the femur.
Tension (physics)Tension is the pulling or stretching force transmitted axially along an object such as a string, rope, chain, rod, truss member, or other object, so as to stretch or pull apart the object. In terms of force, it is the opposite of compression. Tension might also be described as the action-reaction pair of forces acting at each end of an object.
BatOrder of flying mammalsBats (orderChiroptera) are winged mammals, the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, using long, spread-out digits covered with a thin membrane or patagium. The smallest bat, and one of the smallest extant mammals, is Kitti's hog-nosed bat, which is 29–33 mm (1.1–1.3 in) in length, 150 mm (5.9 in) across the forearm and 2 g (0.071 oz) in mass.
EatingEating (also known as feeding or consuming) is the ingestion of food for digestion. In biology, this is typically done to provide heterotrophicorganisms with the essential nutrients and energy needed for metabolism and physical growth, since they are incapable of acquiring nutrition and energy intrinsically like autotrophs and therefore must ingest external organic matters in order to survive.
ClimbingClimbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or other parts of the body to ascend steep topographical objects that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders) to small boulders. Climbing is done for locomotion, sporting recreation, for competition, and in trades that rely on ascension, such as construction and military operations.
PredationPredation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. The predator-prey relationship is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill the host) and parasitoidism (which always does, eventually).*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.