Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Brachiation

Just recently I started studying anthropology, and for a while I've been interested in primatology; I'm considering doing graduate studies in this area. I just find it so fascinating how human-like primates are in their behaviour--some even seem to have a human-like sense of humour, and a self-awareness you don't see in most animals.

Today in class, we covered 'brachiation' which is the graceful swinging from tree to tree that many primates do. Gibbons are particularly good at this. Their arms are longer than their legs, showing their advanced adaptation to this form of locomotion. These apes (not monkeys) are part of the group of primates closest genetically to humans, but they're much further from us when compared with chimps, gorillas and bonobos. Gibbons are naturally monogamous, (debatably) the only great ape who does this. They're not considered social (in comparison with other apes), and form small family units that drive away other gibbons. Anyway, I found this video while searching up some examples of brachiation, and I must ask, who wouldn't want to study something this awesome? This cheeky fellow certainly seems to have that aforementioned sense of humour. See for yourself...

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/DoQwOVAN2kk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

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