Re: To climb or not to climb

[Dinogeorge@aol.com]

In a message dated 12/15/98 12:28:20 PM EST, Patrick.Norton@state.me.us
writes:

<< I view  obligatory bipedalism as one response to pressures in animals with
a   
 primarily cursorial lifestyle, while quadrapedalism (or some form of   
 quasi-bipedalism) usually seems to be selected for animals with a   
 primarily arboreal lifestyle. >>

I think you have this exactly backward. Most large mammals are non-arboreal
quadrupeds. Bipedality in mammals is the exception--and occurs only in mammals
that also have arboreal forms in their family trees. So one can reasonably
infer a strong connection between an arboreal lifestyle and bipedality, not
quadrupedality.