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Q&A

What adaptations would make humans better climbers?

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In this new fantasy setting I'm building, then after getting the tectonic plates and their movements covered, I've found that the land would be very mountainous, plus numerous valleys, and the islands would be mostly just oceanic mountains and volcanoes. There are of course many plainer lands that aren't mountainous, but the majority of the land is just mountain and valley.

With this in mind, then humans--just assuming humans would still evolve with a little handwavium I'm sure won't overly offend--would likely need to evolve to be better climbers than earth humans, at the expense of a little of their sprinting abilities. But what adaptions would be most important for that, and still be viable for a human species?

What I've come up with so far are grip strength and upper body strength, more dexterous feet, and possibly less need for a lower center of gravity. Have I got it on the mark, or should there be some other things to consider?

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This post was sourced from https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/129098. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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One of the best adaptations for climbing is simply length of arms and legs (arms may or may not be necessary depending on the type of climbing). For example, my daughter was a great climber when she was younger and loved those huge indoor rock walls, as well as outdoor climbing. But she was limited because of her size (not only was she young but she was small for her age). Technique and strength and tiny little hands and feet can only take you so far.

When you climb, you have a better chance of success if you have more hand and foot holds to choose from. If your arms and legs reach further, you have more choices of where to put them. It's that simple. And obviously this is an easy evolutionary adaptation.

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