4. Experimental Approaches to Musculoskeletal Function in Primates

Summary

In-vivo methods have become prominent in the study of primate feeding and locomotor behaviors. Analyses of the skull and postcranium have often incorporated a number of similar experimental approaches, including bone strain, electromyography, kinematics, and kinetics. This chapter reviews these major approaches and themes in primate in-vivo analyses, tabulates representative lists of studies, and concludes with a brief summary of new avenues of paleoanthropological research. It emphasizes that an in-vivo, integrative perspective will always benefit from the use and development of new experimental techniques.