Arboreal locomotion Arboreal locomotion Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally, but others are exclusively arboreal. The habitats pose numerous mechanical challenges to animals moving through them and lead to a variety of anatomical, behavioral and ecological consequences as well as variations throughout different species. Furthermore, many of these same principles may be applied to climbing without trees, such as on rock piles or mountains. The earliest known tetrapod with specializations that adapted it for climbing trees was "Suminia",
Divergent evolution in animals insects are believed to be a result of needing the ultrasonic hearing that tympanal ears provide in order to hear predators in the dark. Non-nocturnal insects - that do not need to fear nocturnal predators - are often found to lack these tympanal ears. Animals undergo divergent evolution for a number of reasons. Predators or their absence, changes in the environment, and the time at which certain animals are most active are chief among them. A lack of predators – predatory birds and mammals - for cliff-side nest residing kittiwake caused that particular group of kittiwake to lose their ancestral