Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Scapula Movements and Their Contribution to Three-Dimensional Forelimb Excursions in Quadrupedal Primates

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Primate Locomotion

Part of the book series: Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects ((DIPR))

Abstract

Primates are endowed with a great repertoire of locomotor and nonlocomotor abilities, for which they rely on their powerful prehensile hind limbs and their skilled and mobile forelimbs. The overall mobility of the forelimb depends to a considerable degree on structure and function of the shoulder region but only scant information about the detailed motion of the primate shoulder is available so far. Therefore, we investigated shoulder movements during locomotion in four arboreal quadruped primates using high-speed cineradiography. Together with previous radiographic studies, four different patterns of combined scapular and humeral excursions can be identified that differ in the degree of dorsolateral scapular motion and mediolateral glenohumeral mobility. It becomes obvious that the overall shoulder mobility in primates is affected by scapular mobility on one hand and glenohumeral mobility on the other hand, but the two components of shoulder mobility likely evolved, to some extent, independently. Finding morphological correlates to the observed motion patterns, however, is difficult because morphometric features likely determine the maximum range of shoulder motion, which is not necessarily the motion range that occurs during locomotor activities of the forelimb. For a better understanding of the great variability in shoulder morphology, future studies both in the field and the laboratory should focus on the overall repertoire of shoulder function in primates. Only the combined effort of both research strategies will enhance our understanding of the evolution of this morphofunctional complex in primates.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Arms A, Voges D, Fischer MS, Preuschoft H (2002) Arboreal locomotion in small New World monkeys. Z Morph Anthrop 83:243–263.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ashton EH, Oxnard CE (1963) The musculature of the primate shoulder. Trans Zool Soc Lond 29:553–650.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ashton EH, Oxnard CE (1964a) Functional adaptations in the primate shoulder girdle. Proc Zool Soc Lond 142:49–66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ashton EH, Oxnard CE (1964b) Locomotor patterns in primates. Proc Zool Soc Lond 142:1–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ashton EH, Healy MJR, Oxnard CE, Spence TF (1965a) The combination of locomotor features of the primate shoulder girdle by canonical analysis. J Zool, Lond 147:406–429.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ashton EH, Oxnard CE, Spence TF (1965b) Scapular shape and primate classification. Proc Zool Soc Lond 145:125–142.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ashton EH, Flinn RM, Oxnard CE, Spence TF (1971) The functional and classificatory significance of combined metrical features of the primate shoulder girdle. J Zool, Lond 163:319–350.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cartmill M (1972) Arboreal adaptations and the origin of the order Primates. In: Tuttle R (ed), Functional and Evolutionary Biology of Primates, Aldine Atherton, Chicago, pp. 97–122.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cartmill M (1974) Rethinking primate origins. Science 184:436–443.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chan LK (2007) Scapular position in primates. Folia Primatol 78:19–35.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Corruccini RS, Ciochon RL (1976) Morphometric affinities of the human shoulder. Am J Phys Anthropol 45:19–38.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Davis DD (1949) The shoulder architecture of bears and other carnivores. Fieldiana Zool 31:285–305.

    Google Scholar 

  • English AW (1978a) Functional analysis of the shoulder girdle of cats during locomotion. J Morph 156:279–292.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • English AW (1978b) An electromyographic analysis of forelimb muscles during overground stepping in the cat. J Exp Biol 76:105–122.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Erikson GE (1963) Brachiation in New World monkeys and in anthropoid apes. Symp Zool Soc Lond 10:135–164.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fischer MS (1994) Crouched posture and high fulcrum. A principle in the locomotion of small mammals: the example of the rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) (Mammalia: Hyracoidea). J Hum Evol 26:501–524.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer MS, Schilling N, Schmidt M, Haarhaus D, Witte H (2002) Basic limb kinematics of small therian mammals. J Exp Biol 205:1315–1338.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fleagle JG (1976) Locomotor behavior and skeletal anatomy of sympatric Malaysian leaf-monkeys (Presbytis obscura and Presbytis melalophos). Yrbk Phys Anthropol 20:440–453.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fleagle JG, Mittermeier RA (1980) Locomotor behavior, body size, and comparative ecology of seven Surinam monkeys. Am J Phys Anthropol 52:301–314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fleagle JG (1999) Primate Adaptation and Evolution. Academic Press, San Diego.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fontaine R (1990) Positional behavior in Saimiri boliviensis and Ateles geoffroyi. Am J Phys Anthropol 82:485–508.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Garber PA (1980) Locomotor behavior and feeding ecology of the Panamanian tamarin (Saguinus oedipus geoffroyi, Callitrichidae, Primates). Int J Primatol 1:185–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gebo DL (2004) A shrew-sized origin for primates. Yrbk Phys Anthropol 47:40–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gebo DL, Chapman CA (1995) Positional behavior in five sympatric Old World monkeys. Am J Phys Anthropol 97:49–76.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Geissmann T (2003) Vergleichende Primatologie. Springer Verlag, Berlin.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman M, Porter CA, Czelusniak J, Page SL, Schneider H, Shoshani G, Gunnell G, Groves CP (1998) Toward a phylogenetic classification of primates based on DNA evidence complemented by fossil evidence. Mol Phylogenet Evol 9:585–598.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Goslow GE Jr, Seeherman HJ, Taylor CR, McCutchin MN, Heglund NC (1981) Electrical activity and relative length changes of dog limb muscles as a function of speed and gait. J Exp Biol 94:15–42.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grzimek B (1987) Enzyklopädie der Säugetiere. Kindler Verlag, München.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartwig WC (2002) The Primate Fossil Record. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Inman VT, Saunders M, Abbott LC (1944) Observations on the function of the shoulder joint. J Bone Joint Surg 26:1–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Isler K, Grüter CC (2005) Arboreal locomotion in wild black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus bieti). Folia Primatol 77:195–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins FA Jr (1971) Limb posture and locomotion in the Virginia opossum (Didelphis marsupialis) and in other non-cursorial mammals. J Zool Lond 165:303–315.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins FA Jr (1974) The movement of the shoulder in claviculate and aclaviculate mammals. J Morph 144:71–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins FA Jr, Dombrowski PJ, Gordon EP (1978) Analysis of the shoulder in brachiating spider monkeys. Am J Phys Anthropol 48:65–76.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins FA Jr, Weijs WA (1979) The functional anatomy of the shoulder in the Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana). J Zool, Lond 188:379–410.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kagaya M, Ogihara N, Nakatsukasa M (2008) Morphological study of the anthropoid thoracic cage: scaling of thoracic width and an analysis of rib curvature. Primates 49:89–99.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Keith A (1923) Man’s posture: its evolution and disorders. Br Med J 1:451–454, 499–502, 545–548, 587–590, 624–626, 669–672.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kimes KR, Siegel MI, Sadler DL (1981) Musculoskeletal scapular correlates of plantigrade and acrobatic positional activities in Papio cynocephalus anubis and Macaca fascicularis. Am J Phys Anthropol 55:463–472.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krause C (2008) Die Beweglichkeit des Schultergelenks arborikoler und terrikoler Primaten. Ph.D thesis. Friedrich Schiller Universität Jena.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuznetsov AN (1985) Comparative functional analysis of the fore- and hind limbs in mammals. Zool J, Moscow 64:1862–1867.

    Google Scholar 

  • Larson SG (1988) Subscapularis function in gibbons and chimpanzees: implications for interpretation of humeral head torsion in hominoids. Am J Phys Anthropol 76:449–462.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larson SG, Stern JT Jr (1986) EMG of scapulohumeral muscles in the chimpanzee during reaching and “arboreal” locomotion. Am J Anat 176:171–190.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Larson SG, Stern JT Jr (1989) The role of propulsive muscles of the shoulder during quadrupedalism in vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops): implications for neural control of locomotion in primates. J Motor Behav 21:457–472.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Larson SG (1993) Functional morphology of the shoulder in primates. In: Gebo DL (ed), Postcranial Adaptation in Nonhuman Primates. Northern Illinois University Press, DeKalb.

    Google Scholar 

  • Larson SG, Schmitt D, Lemelin P, Hamrick M (2000) Uniqueness of primate forelimb posture during quadrupedal locomotion. Am J Phys Anthropol 112:87–101.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Martin RD (1972) Adaptive radiation and behaviour of the malagasy lemurs. Philos Trans Roy Soc Lond B 264:295–352.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McCrossin ML, Benefit BR, Gitau SN, Palmer AK, Blue KT (1998) Fossil evidence for the origins of terrestriality among Old World higher primates. In: Strasser E, Fleagle JG, Rosenberger A, McHenry H (eds), Primate Locomotion. Recent Advances. Plenum Press, New York, London, pp. 353–396.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller RA (1932) Evolution of the pectoral girdle and forelimb in the primates. Am J Phys Anthropol 17:1–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mittermeier RA, Fleagle JG (1976) The locomotor and postural repertoires of Ateles geoffroyi and Colobus guereza, and a reevaluation of the locomotor category semibrachiation. Am J Phys Anthropol 45:235–256.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morbeck ME (1979) Forelimb use and positional adaptation in Colobus guereza: integration of behavioral, ecological, and anatomical data. In: Morbeck ME, Preuschoft H, Gomberg N (eds), Environment, Behavior and Morphology: Dynamic Interactions in Primates. Gustav Fischer, New York, pp. 95–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Müller HJ (1967) Form und Funktion der Scapula. Vergleichend analytische Studien bei Carnivoren und Ungulaten. Z Anat Entw 126:205–263.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Napier JR (1967) Evolutionary aspects of primate locomotion. Am J Phys Anthropol 27:333–342.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Napier JR, Walker AC (1967) Vertical clinging and leaping – a newly recognized category of locomotor behaviour of primates. Folia Primatol 6:204–219.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Oxnard CE (1963) Locomotor adaptation of the primate forelimb. Symp Zool Soc Lond 10:165–182.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oxnard CE (1967) The functional morphology of the primate shoulder as revealed by comparative anatomical, osteometric and discriminant function technique. Am J Phys Anthropol 26:219–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Preuschoft H, Schmidt M, Hayama S, Okada M (2003) The influence of three-dimensional movements of the forelimb on the shape of the thorax and its importance for erect body posture. Cour Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 243:9–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts D (1974) Structure and function of the primate scapula. In: Jenkins FA (ed), Primate Locomotion. Academic Press, New York, pp. 171–200.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rocha-Barbosa O, Renous S, Gasc J-P (1996) Comparison of the fore and hind limbs kinematics in the symmetrical and asymmetrical gaits of a caviomorph rodent, the domestic guinea pig, Cavia porcellus (Linné, 1758) (Rodentia, Caviidae). Ann Sci Nat Zool Paris 17:149–165.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rollinson J, Martin RD (1981) Comparative aspects of primate locomotion, with special reference to arboreal cercopithecines. Symp Zool Soc Lond 48:377–427.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rose MD (1973) Quadrupedalism in primates. Primates 14:337–358.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rose MD (1989) New postcranial specimens of catarrhines from the Middle Miocene Chinji Formation, Pakistan: descriptions and a discussion of proximal humeral functional morphology in anthropoids. J Hum Evol 18:131–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rowe N (1996) The pictorial guide to the living primates. Pogonias Press, Charlestown.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schilling N, Fischer MS (1999) Kinematic analysis of treadmill locomotion of tree shrews, Tupaia glis (Scandentia: Tupaiidae). Z Säugetierk 64:129–153.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt M, Fischer MS (2000) Cineradiographic study of forelimb movements during quadrupedal walking in the brown lemur (Eulemur fulvus, Primates: Lemuridae). Am J Phys Anthropol 111:245–262.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt M (2005) Quadrupedal locomotion in squirrel monkeys (Cebidae: Saimiri sciureus): a cineradiographic study of limb kinematics and related substrate reaction forces. Am J Phys Anthropol 128:359–370.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt M (2008) Forelimb proportions and kinematics: how are small primates different from other small mammals? J Exp Biol 211:3775–3789.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitt D (1998) Forelimb mechanics during arboreal and terrestrial quadrupedalism in Old World monkeys. In: Strasser E, Fleagle JG, Rosenberger A, McHenry H (eds), Primate Locomotion. Recent Advances. Plenum Press, New York, London, pp. 175–200.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schön Ybarra MA, Schön MA (1987) Positional behavior and limb bone adaptations in red ­howling monkeys (Alouatta seniculus). Folia Primatol 49:70–89.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schultz AH (1970) The comparative uniformity of the Cercopithecoidea. In: Napier JR, Napier PH (eds), Old World Primates: Evolution, Systematics and Behavior. Academic Press, New York, pp. 39–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shea BT (1986) Scapula form and locomotion in chimpanzee evolution. Am J Phys Anthropol 70:475–488.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith MJ, Savage RJ (1956) Some locomotory adaptations in mammals. J Linn Soc Lond, Zool 42:603–622.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1995) Biometry: The Principles and Practice of Statistics in Biological Research, 3rd ed. W H Freeman and Company, San Francisco.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sussman RW (1991) Primate origins and the evolution of angiosperms. Am J Primatol 23: 209–223.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Takahashi LK (1990) Morphological basis of arm swinging: multivariate analyses of the forelimb of Hylobates and Ateles. Folia Primatol 54:70–85.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor AB (1997) Scapula form and biomechanics in gorillas. J Hum Evol 33:529–553.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tuttle RH, Basmajian JV (1978) Electromyography of pongid shoulder muscles. II. Deltoid, rhomboid and “rotator cuff”. Am J Phys Anthropol 49:47–56.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Walker AC (1979) Prosimian locomotor behavior. In: Doyle GA, Martin RD (eds), The study of Prosimian Behaviour. Academic Press, New York, pp. 543–565.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ward SC, Sussman RW (1979). Correlates between locomotor anatomy and behavior in two sympatric species of Lemur. Am J Phys Anthropol 50:575–590.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead PF, Larson SG (1994) Shoulder motion during quadrupedal walking in Cercopithecus aethiops: intergration of cineradiography and electromyographic data. J Hum Evol 26:525–544.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Spezielle Zoologie and Evolutionsbiologie, Friedrich Schiller Universität Jena, Jena, Germany

    Manuela Schmidt

Authors
  1. Manuela Schmidt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Cornelia Krause
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Manuela Schmidt .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, Antwerp, B-2610, Belgium

    Kristiaan D'Août

  2. Faculty of Medicine, Anatomy, Catholic University Leuven, KULAK, Belgium

    Evie E. Vereecke

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Schmidt, M., Krause, C. (2011). Scapula Movements and Their Contribution to Three-Dimensional Forelimb Excursions in Quadrupedal Primates. In: D'Août, K., Vereecke, E. (eds) Primate Locomotion. Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1420-0_6

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation