brachiate
verb /ˈbrakɪeɪt 
/ [no object]
/ [no object](Of certain apes) move by using the arms to swing from branch to branch: the gibbons brachiate energetically across their enclosure (as adjective brachiating) a brachiating mode of locomotion...
- Here we see the elusive and shy marsh gibbon, brachiating through the sphagnum swamps.
- For the gibbon, the only truly arm-swinging primate, the arms are long and flexible, and the legs, short and reduced - basically to get them out of the way as the owner brachiates through the trees.
- Humans are descended from apes, brachiating creatures who are at home hanging from branches.
adjective /ˈbrakɪət / /ˈbreɪkɪət / Biology
/ /ˈbreɪkɪət / Biology1Branched, especially having widely spread paired branches on alternate sides.Isidia are extensions of the surface of the thallus and may be cylindrical, globular, brachiate (branched) or lobula (lobe-like)....
- Maple trees are brachiate.
2Having arms.It is a discussion of the classification and relations of the brachiate crinoids....
- Others have maintained that the earliest brachiate echinoderms had only three arms.
Derivatives
brachiation
- An ape is defined by the ability to move through the trees swinging arm over arm in a form of locomotion called brachiation.
- In primate species in which brachiation is fully developed, a primate can move through the trees faster than a human can walk on the ground.
- Brachiation is not only an effective form of locomotion, and it also allows the gibbons to reach and harvest every fruit of a branch.
brachiator
- Brace and Montagu are firmly convinced that man evolved from a true brachiator; hence he is a "made-over ape."
- There is a growing school of thought that the last common ancestor of humans and chimps was a brachiator and not a knuckle-walker.
- The black gibbon is a true brachiator which means it moves by suspensory behavior.
Origin
Mid 18th century (originally in the sense 'having paired branches'): from Latin brachium 'arm' + -ate2.