Tailor Made Holidays in Madagascar: In the News

Primates love to climb: 19-05-2008

Scientists researching the evolution of primates believe that some of the animals find climbing easier than walking; perhaps explaining why some never evolved to walk on their feet.

Researchers studied Madagascar's fat-tailed dwarf lemur and the mongoose lemur as well as the slender loris, the pygmy slow loris and the Bolivian squirrel monkey.

They found that the primates like climbing and swinging from trees just as much as walking because it is easier and less energy consuming.

The scientists from the Duke University in North Carolina and University of South Alabama in Mobile said that it had been assumed that gravity made it easier to walk.

"We thought climbing would always be more expensive," said Daniel Schmitt from Duke University.

"They were climbing up into the canopy and staying there. What we have shown is that they could have made this shift into a rich environment with insects and fruits without increased energetic cost," he added.