Study Reveals How Primate Leg Muscles Adapt to Different Ways of Moving
A new study, published in the Royal Society Open Science, found that muscle function differs systematically between primate species and reflects their typical modes of movement.
Led by Dr Ashleigh Wiseman, the study investigates how differences in limb anatomy shape the way primates move. By building detailed, subject-specific 3D musculoskeletal models of the hind limbs in a range of primate species the researchers measured how effectively muscles generate movement at different joint positions.
These measurements, known as moment arms, provide insight into the mechanical advantage of muscles and how this varies across species with different locomotor behaviours.
In highly arboreal primates such as orangutans, gibbons, and siamangs, muscles around the hip show large and flexible ranges of mechanical advantage, supporting control across a wide variety of postures needed for climbing and moving through trees.
In contrast, humans show peak muscle effectiveness in more extended, upright positions, consistent with the demands of bipedal walking and running.
Importantly, these differences are not simply a matter of size, but reflect shifts in when muscles are most effective during habitual movement. This work provides a new comparative framework for understanding how anatomy, movement, and evolution are linked across primates.
Dr Ashleigh Wiseman is a biological anthropologist specialising in how skeletal form relates to movement in humans, great apes, and fossil hominins. Her work integrates anatomical data, experimental approaches, and advanced musculoskeletal modelling to reconstruct soft tissues and quantify locomotor function in both living and extinct species.
She is currently the Principal Investigator of the ERC-funded STEPS project, which investigates how limb mechanics interact with complex terrain. Her research focuses on linking anatomy to performance, using predictive simulations to test evolutionary hypotheses about locomotion.
This research was carried out in collaboration with Professor Evie Vereecke and Dr Julia van Beesel at the KU Leuven, where primate specimens were scanned and dissected at the Jan Palfijn Anatomy Lab. Their expertise and facilities were essential for generating the detailed anatomical data underpinning this study.
Dr Wiseman also expresses her sincere gratitude to the collaborating zoos who provided access to unique primate specimens, including the Réserve Africaine de Sigean, DierenPark Amersfoort, Diergaarde Blijdorp, Zoo Antwerp, and Planckendael Zoo. Without their support and provision of specimens, this research would not have been possible.
Data collection was supported by an AABA Cobb Professional Development Grant, a Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship (grant no. ECF-2021-054), and the Isaac Newton Trust (Project_21.08(a)) at the University of Cambridge, awarded to ALW. The research was further supported by the STEPS project (ERC, Grant No. 101219207) awarded to ALW, and also by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation; Project number 517064266), awarded to JvB.
Published 29 April 2026
The text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
