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There are a diverse range of 'climbing animals'; animals that spend much of their time moving on steep, vertical, or overhanging surfaces and have appropriate adaptations for such locomotion. Climbing animals can be roughly divided into two groups. Those animals which move steep, vertical, or overhanging rock surfaces - 'rockface locomotion'. The other group are those who move among tall vegetation - 'arboreal locomotion'. These two environments may produce quite different methods of climbing. However, in some cases the climbing methods are similar, especially for small animals for which a rockface and a tree trunk may present similar problems for locomotion.

Contents

Rockface locomotion

Balancing

Clinging

Sticking

Arboreal locomotion

Balancing, clinging, and sticking

Hanging

Leaping

Body clasping

Clasping with hands/feet

Brachiating

Rockface locomotion

Balancing

A number of animals move on rockface which are steep or even near vertical by careful balancing and leaping. Perhaps the most exceptional of these are the various types of mountain dwelling caprid such as the Barbary sheep, markhor, tur, ibex, tahr, rocky mountain goat ,and chamois. Their adaptation may include a soft rubbery pad between their hooves for grip, hooves with sharp keratin rims for lodging in small footholds, and prominent dew claws. The snow leopard, being a predator of such mountain caprids is also a spectacular balancer and leaper, being able to leap up to ~17m (~50ft).
Other balancer and leapers include the mountain zebra, mountain tapir, and hyraxes.

Clinging

wall lizards

Sticking

geckoes, flies

Arboreal locomotion

Balancing, clinging, and sticking

Tree geckoes

Hanging

Sloths

Leaping

Bushbabies. Leaping is linked to gliding.

Body clasping

Tree-kangaroos, coconut crabs, tree snakes

Clasping with hands/feet

Monkeys, squirrels, birds, chameleons

Brachiating

Brachiation is arguably the epitomy of arboreal locomotion, and involved swinging with the arms from one handhold to another. Only a few species are brachiators, and all of these are primates; it is a major means of locomotion among spider monkeys and gibbons, and is occaisonaly used by female orangutans. Gibbons are the experts of this mode of locomotion, swinging from branch to branch distances of up to 15m (50ft), and traveling at speeds of as much as 56 km/h (35 mph).