Introduction. Primate Locomotion: Toward a Synergy of Laboratory and Field Research

Abstract

Researchers have studied primate locomotion over a considerable period of time, e.g., baboon locomotion by Muybridge (1899), and it continues to receive a great deal of attention from primatologists, anthropologists, and biomechanists worldwide. There are several good reasons for this, many boiling down to the primates possessing several “unique” features, which are thought to relate to their ancestral arboreal niche, and that presumably opened options for the evolution of hominins (as bipeds). In the past, primate locomotion had been tackled from a variety of perspectives. Field primatologists have collected quantitative data on locomotion and posture since the 1960s (e.g., Napier and Napier 1967; Richard 1970; Grand 1972; Rose 1973, 1976; Chivers 1974; Mittermeier and Fleagle 1976; Mittermeier 1978); in-depth biomechanics research on primate locomotion has been conducted since as early as 1935, with Elftman and Manter’s study on chimpanzee bipedalism, and Fleagle and colleagues could be considered pioneers in combining both approaches (e.g., Fleagle 1974, 1976, 1992, 1999; Fleagle and Mittermeier 1980).