Locomotor kinematics of tree squirrels ( Sciurus carolinensis ) in free‐ranging and laboratory environments: Implications for primate locomotion and evolution

The grasping capabilities and gait kinematics characteristic of primates are often argued to be adaptations for safely moving on small terminal branches. The goal of this study was to identify whether Eastern gray squirrels ( Sciurus carolinensis )—arboreal rodents that frequently move and forage on small branches, lack primate‐like grasping and gait patterns, and arguably represent extant analogs of a stem primate ancestor—adjust gait...