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Facultative terrestrial hand postures in an orangutan ( Pongo pygmaeus ) and pongid evolution
Author(s) -
Susman Randall L.
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.1330400104
Subject(s) - quadrupedalism , pongo pygmaeus , gait , squatting position , bipedalism , biology , diagonal , kin recognition , zoology , anatomy , mathematics , geometry , physiology
An adult male orangutan at the Chicago Zoological Park utilizes various knuckle‐walking hand postures in terrestrial bipedal‐squatting and quadrupedal diagonal‐sequence , diagonal‐couplet gaits. A study was conducted in order to discern the circumstances surrounding the subject's terrestrial locomotor modes. It was found that various locomotor behaviors correlate with specific conditions of the substrate and the subject's motivation. Biomechanical properties of orangutan knuckle‐walking are discussed in terms of their relevance for modelling hominoid phylogeny.