Effects of binocular cue availability on leaping performance in Cheirogaleus medius: implications for primate origins

ABSTRACT

Multiple competing hypotheses attribute the evolution of the suite of traits that distinguish primates from their closest relatives, including forward-facing eyes, which create a wide field of binocular vision, to specific behavioral and ecological factors. The grasp-leaping hypothesis suggests that the evolution of these traits in basal primates was driven by the demands of a form of leaping locomotion unique to primates. Whether the grasp-leaping hypothesis provides a viable mechanism for the evolution of primates' forward-facing eyes remains untested. To determine whether grasp-leaping locomotion may have contributed to driving the evolution of primates' forward-facing eyes, the importance of vision within the binocular field for this type of leaping was evaluated experimentally in Cheirogaleus medius, one of the cheirogaleid primate species considered reasonable living analogs of the earliest primates. Availability of binocular visual cues was experimentally restricted using a head-mounted blinder that narrowed the binocular visual field without altering the total visual field. Animals altered their launch behavior, reduced their horizontal leap speed, and were significantly more likely to select paths that offered the shortest available leaps when their binocular field was restricted. Restriction of binocular cue availability also significantly increased the probability of adverse landings even when statistically controlling for potentially confounding variables such as leap distance, horizontal leap speed, learning effects, etc. These results suggest a functional mechanism by which selection for improved grasp-leaping could also have contributed to the evolution of forward-facing eyes in the earliest crown primates.