Why apes took to the trees

(Photo credit: http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/PhotoGallery/Primates/7.cfm )

Scientists have long wondered why early primates inhabited forest canopies, given that climbing appears to consume more energy than walking. However Duke University researchers studying primates walking on treadmills found that there was no energy consumption difference in small primates.

This suggests that ancestors of humans, apes and monkeys may have taken to the trees because of their small body size to exploit a new environment giving them an evolutionary advantage compared to fellow mammals.

Early primates, which would have been about the size of large rats, then underwent a number of evolutionary changes as they adapted to their new environment. These changes included nails rather than claws and grasping hands and feet.

Elaine Warburton  www.geneticsandhealth.com