The main objective of this research is to understand the relationships between leaping behaviors and the design of the limb skeleton in living and fossil primates. Leaping behaviors have been hypothesized to be an important component in the evolution of modern primates. This research will clarify form-function relationships in living prosimians by examination of mechanically important aspects of leaping behaviors and limb longbones. Analysis of captive galagine and lemurid leaping will be based on qualitative kinematic descriptions of videotaped locomotor sequences. Mechanically sensitive aspects of limb longbones, including cortical bone cross-sectional area and geometry, will be determined from measurements made on radiographs of museum specimens. Form-function relations demonstrated in living species will allow inferences of the locomotor adaptations of the earliest modern primates to be made.
