Plantigrados: What are and examples

The term plantigraine refers to a type of bodily support and locomotion, from which the development of particular skills is allowed. This is the definition of plantigrants:

• Planting animals are those that have the palm or plant of its legs completely supported on the groundtogether with their respective nails or clawsto be able to move.
• They can be quadrupedsthat is, walking on all fours, or Bípedosthat only support on two legs or limbs.
• Planting animals They are mammalstherefore, there are no microscopic plants. This last type of organisms tend to have other types of independent locomotion to the limbs, such as the use of cilia, for example.
• All plantigrants They depend on their limbsand other specific characteristics in its bone structure, which we will see below.

All animals have unique characteristics of their group, but all plantigrants have points in common. Such are:

• It only occurs in mammal animals.
• The leg of a plantigraine consists of the bones of the upper part femur and humerusand from the lower part, Tibia, Cubito, Fibula and Radio.
• They have one efficient weight distribution on a broad and safe platform, both to move and to feed or to relate to other animals of its species.
• They have one A large number of bones and tendonscompared to other animals.
• They are slower than digitígrados or ugulated for having more structures in the plantigrade extremities.
• The surface that rests on the ground can be La Palmarwhen it comes to hands, or Plantingwhen they are legs or legs.
• These surfaces, whether plants or palms, They lack hair.
• The legs have Five fingerswhich are used to Distribute the weight equitably.
• They can get up In the rear extremities.
• The foot is vertical in relation to the extremities.

So that you understand the concept of planting animals, we present some examples.

Bears (Ursidae)

Bears move from side to side in Four legsbut they also have the ability to get up on the two later to walk short trajectories. This is due to its plantigrade posture, which allows a support with which you can get up and sustain the weight. Have Five claws non -retractable that also help them as support and grip on the floor. This plantigrade condition helps you have a varied and specialized diet, such as fish capture or the ability to rummage inside honeycombs to find larvae.

Here we show you the types of bears.

Mapaches (Procyon spp.)

Mapaches are carnivores that have plantigrad rear legs. Thanks to the fact that they can recharge all their weight on the hind legs, they have developed the ability to Use your hands. In addition, they can sit down Thanks to its planted legs. They are also known as washing bears, although it is possible to emphasize that they are not bears. They won this name because they use their hands to wash their food and have a very acute sensory tactile capacity. This is their strongest sense thanks to the fact that they have an interdigital membrane in the front hands than when it gets wet is even more acute. His brain is adapted to interpret these tactile nerve impulses to interpret their surroundings.

In this other post we talk about the Mapaches are aggressive?

Coatí (Nasua spp.)

Related to the Mapache we have the Coatí, another very similar procusion. Can climb trees with the help of their plantigrad legs and its long tailwhich serves as support. In addition, they have the peculiarity of rotating their 180 ° ankles while they descend, and challenging gravity without falling.

Glutton (Gulo Gulo)

The glutton is also among the musteloids, as well as the Mapache and the Coatí, but physically it looks more like a bear. Are Planting with five fingersthanks to those with a good ability to climb from trees to snow -covered mountains typical of its habitat. They are small, 45 centimeters tall from their feet to their shoulders when they stop in a bipedal position, but despite this They are extremely fierce. They are able to kill prey much larger than they, like deer or goats, although they also hunt smaller animals.

The man (Homo sapiens sapiens)

Remember that man is A primateand as such, we are planting animals. We only support the rear extremities. In man, the surface of Plantigrado foot It is known as an arc, and in the hand it is called Palma. The plantigrade condition was decisive in modern man. Thanks to the fact that the primitive man was able to balance his weight on the rear extremities, his hands were released and could undertake tasks of greater difficulty. As for this, his brain began to develop, giving way to speech and creativity, to mention some qualities that have led us to build civilizations.

Now that you know planting animals better, we recommend you read this other article about the types of mammals, their characteristics and examples.

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