Translating Primate Locomotor Biomechanical Variables from the Laboratory to the Field

Abstract

One of the critical goals of primate evolutionary morphology is to understand the functional anatomy of muscular and osteological features to infer behavior in the fossil record. One of the most productive approaches for testing functional hypotheses is the comparative experimental approach first advocated by Washburn in the early 1950s. Since that time, laboratory-based approaches have provided profound insights into the biomechanics of primate locomotion and helped anthropologists understand important aspects of limb design. However, a lack of connection to naturalistic data collected from the field has limited the full value of these data. This chapter proposes that there are a number of simple variables that can be collected both in the laboratory and the field that reflect important underlying aspects of locomotor biomechanics. These include gait choice, limb phase, and joint yield all of which appear to be associated with joint loading and center of mass movements. Using these measures, this chapter provides a model for the way in which laboratory-based and field-based data may be analyzed to provide a complete perspective on primate locomotion.