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 its descent and prevent falling. Descent can be particularly problematic for many animals, and highly arboreal species often have specialized methods for controlling their descent. Due to the height of many branches and the potentially disastrous consequences of a fall, balance is of primary importance to arboreal animals. On horizontal and gently sloped branches, the primary problem is tipping to the side due to the narrow base of support. The narrower the branch, the greater the difficulty in balancing a given animal faces. On steep and vertical branches, tipping becomes less of an issue, and pitching backwards or slipping downwards