title: Adaptationism and the anthropoid postcranium: selection does not govern the length of the radial neck.
abstract: The length of the radial neck has been assumed to vary in living and extinct primates in accordance with its role as a moment arm during flexion by the m. biceps brachii. We here use a simple developmental approach to investigate whether or not this trait does, in fact, vary in such a manner. We find, instead, that virtually all variation in radial neck length is explicable as a simple correlate of overall body size, and that there is no evidence to conclude that selection has separately modified radial neck length in response to differing locomotor patterns. Further implications for the interpretation of mammalian skeletal morphology are briefly discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA.
authors.forename: P L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Reno
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: McCollum
authors.forename: C O
authors.initials: CO
authors.lastname: Lovejoy
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Meindl
mesh_terms: D000220:Adaptation, Biological; D000818:Animals; D001824:Body Constitution; D000882:Haplorhini / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D009043:Motor Activity; D009333:Neck / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D012641:Selection, Genetic