Abstract
Prehensile tails (i.e. capable of grasping) are considered to be an adaptation to highly arboreal lifestyles. This trait has been reported in at least 40 mammalian genera across six orders. This important number of species across a wide diversity of mammals suggest several independent origins of prehensile tails. Such capacities are believed to impose particular mechanical constraints onto the tail and thus hypotheses regarding morphological convergence between those taxa have been tested. Prehensile species appear to present shorter and wider caudal vertebrae, with more developed transverse processes and an important development of their flexor muscles. However, primates and carnivorans (to a lesser extent) have been the primary focus of such studies, thus much remains unknown and there is especially a need to take into account a wider diversity of taxa in further studies. To better characterize the convergent patterns aforementioned, this doctoral dissertation aimed to conduct an integrative approach adding behavioral, myological, and osteological data on carnivorans and rodents. Behavioral results confirm that howler and capuchin monkeys use their tails in different ways and establish that kinkajous present both a combination of tail-associated behaviors found in the aforementioned species as well as unique behaviors. Regarding tail muscles, carnivorans appear to present trends similar to those found in primates, especially regarding the relative development of their flexor muscles but also demonstrate distinct structural properties highlighting a partial decoupling of myological and osteological convergences. Lastly, the investigation of the tail vertebrae of small rodents demonstrates that they share a convergent pattern with primates and carnivorans and helped diagnose prehensile capacities in new species. Overall, this work contributed to better understanding the convergences as well as the diversity in the behavior and the anatomy of prehensile-tailed species in order to better appreciate the interplay between form and function associated with this trait.