{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,6]],"date-time":"2026-02-06T23:47:00Z","timestamp":1770421620754,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":112,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,19]],"date-time":"2025-02-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1739923200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":18,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["American J Hum Biol"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,2]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title><jats:p>Sexual selection via contest competition has equipped countless organisms with weaponry in their <jats:italic>appendages<\/jats:italic> to overpower their opponents. Here, we tested (1) whether greater upper limb length\u2014measured as span controlling for biacromial width\u2014confers an advantage in contest competition among adult humans, (2) several possible means by which upper limb length might increase success in intrasexual contest competition, and (3) whether, consistent with male\u2013male contest competition creating stronger selection pressures than female\u2013female contest competition, male <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\"><jats:italic>Homo sapiens<\/jats:italic><\/jats:styled-content> have greater upper limb length.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>We collected fight statistics and facial and body photographs from professional combatants (<jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u2009715) in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC; Study 1). Sexual dimorphism in upper limb length was then examined via diverse and demographically representative samples from four studies (total <jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20096915), from Croatian adolescents and older Singaporean adults to United States Army personnel born across all major world regions (Studies 2a\u20132d).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>First, we found that greater upper limb length is associated with increased success in intrasexual contest competition, an effect driven by both the capacity to grapple opponents to submission and to knock opponents unconscious (Study 1). Second, we found unequivocal, cross\u2010cultural evidence of unique sexual dimorphism in upper limb length <jats:italic>after controlling for allometry<\/jats:italic>: across four studies, men exhibited longer upper limbs than women (Studies 2a\u20132d).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>Upper limb length may have been shaped by intrasexual selection, with implications across the biological, anthropological, and psychological sciences.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1002\/ajhb.70010","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,19]],"date-time":"2025-02-19T12:53:27Z","timestamp":1739969607000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Intrasexual Selection for Upper Limb Length in <scp><i>Homo sapiens<\/i><\/scp>"],"prefix":"10.1002","volume":"37","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2656-4915","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Neil R.","family":"Caton","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Psychology University of Queensland  Brisbane Queensland Australia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"David M. 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