semibrachiationn.
Zoology.
A mode of progression exhibited by certain monkeys in which the forelimbs may be used both as legs in a quadrupedal gait and as arms by which to grasp and swing.
ΚΠ
1961 J. R. Napier in Symp. Zool. Soc. V. 127 The twist [of the head] is generally seen in Primates that combine a quadrupedal gait with the specialized arboreal locomotor patterns of brachiation and semi-brachiation. [Note] The term semibrachiation has been devised by the author in association with Dr E. H. Ashton to describe the highly arboreal and acrobatic activities of certain of New and Old World monkeys.
1972 W. C. O. Hill Evolutionary Biol. Primates ix. 65 Old World exponents of semibrachiation include the six or more genera of the family Colobidae (the Asiatic leaf monkeys and the African Colobus).
Derivatives
semiˈbrachiating adj.
ΚΠ
1963 J. R. Napier in Symp. Zool. Soc. X. 188 The African semibrachiating Colobus shows a decided preference for the higher strata of the forest canopy.
semiˈbrachiator n. an animal that exhibits semibrachiation.
ΚΠ
1963 J. R. Napier in Symp. Zool. Soc. X. 186 The mode of locomotion of semibrachiators is basically that of an arboreal quadruped but, in addition, a variable amount of time is spent in swinging by the arms and leaping with the forelimbs outstretched to grasp a hand~hold.
1973 Nature 10 Aug. 373/2 With respect to locomotion, the first component separates quadrupedal cercopithecoids from both knuckle-walkers..and the quadrupedal arm-swinger (so-called ‘semi-brachiator’) Ateles.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
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