Abstract: As a group of animals adapted to arboreal life, primates are constantly faced with challenges from the external environment and body structure in the process of arboreal life.The studies of positional behavior and substrate use will provide insight into the relationships among morphological characteristics, behavior and environment, and explain a great deal about primate adaptability diversification, ecology, anatomy and evolution.On the basis of the previous research, we summarized the definitions and descriptions in the study of primate positional behavior, and explored the influencing factors of positional behavior and substrateutilization from the perspectives of physiological factors and ecological factors.This review is intended to provide reference for the future research of non-human primates and promote the development of further research on behavioralecology of primates.