Brachiate

2 A way of saying swing for zoologists and primatologists, though the motion is particular, - arms held above the head hooking a holdfast but often not usually grasping, then using the pendulating body weight to propel forward and hooking the next branch/liana/vine/ with the rear arm brought forward. During the motion there is sometimes a certain amount of free-fall. Zoo.

Gibbon's are well known examples of animals that use this as their predominant form of ambulation, They are optimized in the shoulder joint and in the hand anatomy which is long, curved like a hook and has little in the way of an obtrusive 'thumb'.

- bra·chi·a·tion /"brA-kE-'A-sh&n/ noun -to move by swinging

- bra·chi·a·tor /'brA-kE-"A-t&r/ noun -one who swings in a certain way

Note
Humans often feel superior in their bipedalism but in the difficulties in creating a brachiating robot, some respect would be ceded to our relatives.

Brach"i*ate (?), a. [L. brachiatus (bracch-) with boughs or branches like arms, from brackium (bracch-) arm.] Bot.

Having branches in pairs, decussated, all nearly horizontal, and each pair at right angles with the next, as in the maple and lilac.

© Webster 1913.