Fall 2026

Abstract 

Locomotion has played a key role in the evolutionary adaptive strategies of primates. Although primates exhibit a wide diversity of locomotor behaviors, arboreal quadrupedalism is considered to be the ancestral form of locomotion for primates. Decades of laboratory research on primate quadrupedalism has revealed that primates are distinctive in their quadrupedal biomechanics compared to most mammals, and controlled experiments have attempted to discern which aspects of the arboreal environment might have been critical during the evolution of these biomechanical features. However, lab-studies are necessarily limited in recreating the complexities of the arboreal environment. A more ecologically relevant understanding of primate quadrupedalism requires analysis of primates moving in their natural habitats. In this talk, I will review what is unique about primate quadrupedalism and then discuss how I have used both lab and field-based techniques (videography and remote measurement of substrate characteristics) to obtain further insight about the adaptation and evolution of primate quadrupedal kinematics.

Abstract 

TBA

Spring 2027