ArticleBiology letters2012
The extraordinary athletic performance of leaping gibbons.
Article in Biology letters, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- A spinal substrate for modular control of natural behavior.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Predictive musculoskeletal simulations reveal the mechanistic link between speed, posture and energetics among extant mammals.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Linking morphology, performance, and habitat utilization: adaptation across biologically relevant 'levels' in tamarins.BMC ecology and evolution · 2024Article
- When Jump Height is not a Good Indicator of Lower Limb Maximal Power Output: Theoretical Demonstration, Experimental Evidence and Practical Solutions.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2019Article
- The gibbon's Achilles tendon revisited: consequences for the evolution of the great apes?Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2018Article
- Hip extensor mechanics and the evolution of walking and climbing capabilities in humans, apes, and fossil hominins.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2018Article
- Markerless 3D motion capture for animal locomotion studies.Biology open · 2014Article
- Constraints on muscle performance provide a novel explanation for the scaling of posture in terrestrial animals.Biology letters · 2013Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The distance that animals leap depends on their take-off angle and velocity. The velocity is generated solely by mechanical work during the push-off phase of standing-start leaps. Gibbons are capable of exceptional leaping performance, crossing gaps in the forest canopy exceeding 10 m, yet possess none of the adaptations possessed by specialist leapers synonymous with maximizing mechanical work. To understand this impressive performance, we recorded leaps of the gibbons exceeding 3.7 m. Gibbons perform more mass-specific work (35.4 J kg(-1)) than reported for any other species to date, accelerating to 8.3 ms(-1) in a single movement and redefining our estimates of work performance by animals. This energy (enough for a 3.5 m vertical leap) is 60 per cent higher than that achieved by galagos, which are renowned for their remarkable leaping performance. The gibbons' unusual morphology facilitates a division of labour among the hind limbs, forelimbs and trunk, resulting in modest power requirements compared with more specialized leapers.
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