Editing Neck (section)

== Animals ==
[[File:Giraffe Mikumi National Park.jpg|thumb|The long neck is a distinguishing feature of the [[giraffe]].]]
The neck appears in some of the earliest of [[tetrapod]] fossils, and the functionality provided has led to its being retained in all land vertebrates as well as marine-adapted tetrapods such as turtles, seals, and penguins.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Qvarnström |first1=Martin |last2=Szrek |first2=Piotr |last3=Ahlberg |first3=Per E. |last4=Niedźwiedzki |first4=Grzegorz |date=2018-01-18 |title=Non-marine palaeoenvironment associated to the earliest tetrapod tracks |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=1074 |doi=10.1038/s41598-018-19220-5 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=5773519 |pmid=29348562|bibcode=2018NatSR...8.1074Q }}</ref> Some degree of flexibility is retained even where the outside physical manifestation has been secondarily lost, as in whales and porpoises.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mikkelsson |first1=L O |last2=Nupponen |first2=H |last3=Kaprio |first3=J |last4=Kautiainen |first4=H |last5=Mikkelsson |first5=M |last6=Kujala |first6=U M |date=January 23, 2006 |title=Adolescent flexibility, endurance strength, and physical activity as predictors of adult tension neck, low back pain, and knee injury: a 25 year follow up study |journal=British Journal of Sports Medicine |volume=40 |issue=2 |pages=107–113 |doi=10.1136/bjsm.2004.017350 |issn=0306-3674 |pmc=2492014 |pmid=16431995}}</ref> A morphologically functioning neck also appears among insects. Its absence in fish and aquatic arthropods is notable, as many have life stations similar to a terrestrial or tetrapod counterpart or could otherwise make use of the added flexibility.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mathison |first1=Blaine A. |last2=Pritt |first2=Bobbi S. |date=January 1, 2014 |title=Laboratory Identification of Arthropod Ectoparasites |journal=Clinical Microbiology Reviews |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=48–67 |doi=10.1128/CMR.00008-13 |issn=0893-8512 |pmc=3910909 |pmid=24396136}}</ref>

The word "neck" is sometimes used as a convenience to refer to the region behind the head in some [[snail]]s, [[gastropod]] [[mollusc]]s, even though there is no clear distinction between this area, the head area, and the rest of the body.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Roesch |first1=Zachary K. |title=Anatomy, Head and Neck, Neck |date=2022 |url=http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK542313/ |work=StatPearls |place=Treasure Island (FL) |publisher=StatPearls Publishing |pmid=31194453 |access-date=2022-11-24 |last2=Tadi |first2=Prasanna}}</ref>