Arboreal theory and feet that were capable of grasping. This was also a result of arboreal life, which required a great deal of crawling along branches, and reaching out for fruit and other food. These early primates were likely to have eaten foods found in trees, such as flowers, fruits, berries, gums, leaves, and insects. They are thought to have shifted their diets towards insects in the early Cenozoic era, when insects became more numerous. Arboreal theory This theory is proposed by Grafton Elliott-Smith (1912) who was a neuroanatomist who was chiefly concerned with the emergence of the primate brain. The arboreal
Arboreal locomotion passive stability by hanging beneath the branch. Both pitching and tipping become irrelevant, as the only method of failure would be losing their grip. Arboreal species have behaviors specialized for moving in their habitats, most prominently in terms of posture and gait. Specifically, arboreal mammals take longer steps, extend their limbs further forwards and backwards during a step, adopt a more 'crouched' posture to lower their center of mass, and use a diagonal sequence gait. Arboreal locomotion allows animals access to different resources, depending upon their abilities. Larger species may be restricted to larger-diameter branches that can support their weight,