Brachiator
Encyclopedia
Brachiators are a type of primate
mostly from the family Hylobatidae, which includes gibbon
s. Brachiators use their arms to move from tree branch to tree branch, through a process called brachiation
. Their arms are longer than their legs, and are much more powerful.
Era in Africa
and Northern Europe
. Eventually, the some of the monkeys began to use their arms to swing, and lost their tails, due to evolution
. Without a tail, they ceased to be monkey
s, and became ape
s with strong arms. Through the ages, the ape-like ancestors developed stronger arms and the shoulder blades moved from the side of their chests to the back of their bodies.
Most of these brachaiators were smaller than average apes, so were able to move through the trees easier than gorilla
s or orangutan
s, although female orangutans do brachiate through the trees occasionally. The brachiators held their bodies upright in the trees, and would sometimes go on the ground and walk upright. This helped them survive in the plains when the forests began to die, because they were so unfamiliar to the predators that they would not be attacked.
Primate
A primate is a mammal of the order Primates , which contains prosimians and simians. Primates arose from ancestors that lived in the trees of tropical forests; many primate characteristics represent adaptations to life in this challenging three-dimensional environment...
mostly from the family Hylobatidae, which includes gibbon
Gibbon
Gibbons are apes in the family Hylobatidae . The family is divided into four genera based on their diploid chromosome number: Hylobates , Hoolock , Nomascus , and Symphalangus . The extinct Bunopithecus sericus is a gibbon or gibbon-like ape which, until recently, was thought to be closely related...
s. Brachiators use their arms to move from tree branch to tree branch, through a process called brachiation
Brachiation
Brachiation is a form of arboreal locomotion in which primates swing from tree limb to tree limb using only their arms.- Brachiators :...
. Their arms are longer than their legs, and are much more powerful.
Evolution
Brachiators began as four-footed monkey-like creatures in the TertiaryTertiary
The Tertiary is a deprecated term for a geologic period 65 million to 2.6 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and the Quaternary...
Era in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and Northern Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Eventually, the some of the monkeys began to use their arms to swing, and lost their tails, due to evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
. Without a tail, they ceased to be monkey
Monkey
A monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...
s, and became ape
Ape
Apes are Old World anthropoid mammals, more specifically a clade of tailless catarrhine primates, belonging to the biological superfamily Hominoidea. The apes are native to Africa and South-east Asia, although in relatively recent times humans have spread all over the world...
s with strong arms. Through the ages, the ape-like ancestors developed stronger arms and the shoulder blades moved from the side of their chests to the back of their bodies.
Most of these brachaiators were smaller than average apes, so were able to move through the trees easier than gorilla
Gorilla
Gorillas are the largest extant species of primates. They are ground-dwelling, predominantly herbivorous apes that inhabit the forests of central Africa. Gorillas are divided into two species and either four or five subspecies...
s or orangutan
Orangutan
Orangutans are the only exclusively Asian genus of extant great ape. The largest living arboreal animals, they have proportionally longer arms than the other, more terrestrial, great apes. They are among the most intelligent primates and use a variety of sophisticated tools, also making sleeping...
s, although female orangutans do brachiate through the trees occasionally. The brachiators held their bodies upright in the trees, and would sometimes go on the ground and walk upright. This helped them survive in the plains when the forests began to die, because they were so unfamiliar to the predators that they would not be attacked.
Physical features
Brachiators have:- broad hip sockets
- broad upper bodies
- shoulder blades further back
- locking knee joints
- elongated heel bones
- aligned and longer big toes
- upright body position
- strong muscles behind the thighs and the pelvis
- bend in their loins
- slightly arched spine (S-shaped)
- hands adapted to grasping branches
- large incisorIncisorIncisors are the first kind of tooth in heterodont mammals. They are located in the premaxilla above and mandible below.-Function:...
s