LOCOMOTION AS A LIFE-HISTORY CHARACTER - THE CONTRIBUTION OF ANATOMY

John Napier's research in primatology illuminated several aspects of motor skill and its structural and functional aspects. This study continues in Napier's tradition of emphasizing structure, function and behavior and adds a life history perspective to primate locomotion. Muscle, bone and joint properties of body segments connect individuals to their expressed locomotor behavior and underlie individual survival and reproduction. This relationship is demonstrated through three comparisons: (1) distribution of body mass across species highlights similarities and differences, and complements information based on linear measurements; (2) as an animal grows, its musculo-skeletal maturation is keyed to moving about in the external world; and (3) females are not miniature males, nor are males larger versions of females. The musculo-skeletal system has been remodeled for divergent adaptations between, and within, different species, of different ages and sexes for survival and reproduction. © 1992.