Transcript: Ape movement

Apes and humans . when you give us both the opportunity to play, our similarities are pretty obvious.

We're both social beings, and we both like to challenge our bodies.

Apes and humans don't have tails, and we both have opposable thumbs. This means that our thumbs are sufficiently separate from the other fingers to allow them to face and touch each other - excellent for the ape or human on the move.

But humans and apes do have their differences.

Apes tend to have longer, more narrow hands than humans. All apes will tell you a narrow hand is extremely useful when you spend most of your time grasping branches and swinging about.

Apes also have longer feet, with short big toes that can be used like hooks. It really gives apes the climbing and hanging-upside-down edge.

Zooming back up the body, humans have arms that are relatively short and weak, and are not designed for long-term hanging around, whereas apes have super-long, mega-strong arms that are often longer than their bodies. This physiological combination spells for some awesome arboreal action.

Apes are masters of brachiation, swinging from tree to tree - their primary mode of locomotion. (You've got to be kidding!)

Some apes, like gibbons, have ball-and-socket joints in their wrists, allowing them a far greater range of movement than we could ever hope for.

Now, there is one very important thing that we humans can do that apes can't, and that is . talk. They can make sounds, but apes' tongues are simply not as flexible as ours, and their lips are not able to form the shapes needed to enunciate words.

So we humans may not measure up in the swinging and climbing department, but we sure make up for it in the chatting arena. (So anyway, like you were saying about that party that night, yeah. Okay, yeah .)