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Archives for November 26, 2016

How do chimpanzees walk?

November 26, 2016 by Diana

Chimpanzees are considered quadrupedal (walking on four limbs), but they don’t have four legs like many other mammal species. Like humans, they have two legs and two arms. They not only share our handy (pun intended) opposable thumbs, but they have “thumbs” (technically referred to opposable toes) on their feet too.

web_Missy_lick_jody_foot_wound_groom_GH_jb_IMG_0820

 

Animals with four legs generally have limbs that are pretty much equal in length and they walk on the same part of each of their feet. Chimpanzees have long arms with long-fingered hands and they bend their fingers underneath, walking on the knuckles of their hands and the flat part of their feet.

web_Burrito_walk_top_beam_structure_look_down_YH_kh_IMG_5998

web_jamie_walk_assured_no_snow_yh_kd_IMG_9249

 

One cool thing about knuckle-walking is that it leaves your hands free to carry your dolls:

Foxie and friends

 

While chimpanzees are mainly quadrupedal when walking and standing (of course they can also swing through the trees), there are times when they stand up on their feet and sometimes walk bipedally like us humans.

At the sanctuary, a frequent reason to stand up is to spy on the neighbors or spot something at a distance:

Jamie:
Jamie spying on neighbor

Negra:
Negra standing and looking

Jody:
web_Jody_stand_bipedal_on_alert_green_grass_YH_ek_IMG_3408

Foxie:
Foxie with new brown haired troll doll

Missy:
Missy bipedal from behind

 

Another pretty practical reason to walk bipedally is when your hands or arms are really full:

 

Jody:
Jody holding snow 1

 

Burrito:
web_Burrito_bipedal_eat_forage_mouthful_hands_full_food_YH_kh_IMG_7860

 

Jamie:
bipedal Jamie

 

web_Jamie_bipedal_walk_hold_new_boots_from_Bill_Jackson_GH_ek_IMG_8047

 

Being short myself, maybe I’m projecting this on to Missy, but I think I stand up straighter and raise up on my tip toes a lot more than less vertically-challenged people, so I equate this to Missy standing up just to be taller once in a while:

web Missy bipedal on beam YH IMG_4152

web_Missy_bipedal_open_box_enrichment_PR_kd_IMG_7873

Missy bipedal, playface

 

Annie, however, is somewhat of an exception. We don’t really know why, but she tends to stand and walk bipedally more often than not when she’s in the grass on Young’s Hill, even when her hands aren’t full and she’s not trying to spy on something at a distance.

web_Annie_bipedal_walk_sequence_YH_kh_IMG_4756

web_Annie_bipedal_walk_grass_yh_aw_IMG_0796

web_Annie_bipedal_headband_yh_aw_IMG_6021

web_annie_bipedal_snow_to_raceway_kd_IMG_7617

web annie bipedal 2 yh grass

Annie walking in the tall grass

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Cle Elum, WA 98922
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