   These developments are salutary in that they show biologists how to better test adaptive hypotheses and have clarified the phylogenetic assumptions that are necessary to test adaptive hypotheses (Sober and Orzack 2003). As such, they are a methodological improvement that has generally gained a positive reception among philosophers of biology (e.g., Sterelny and Griffiths 1999). Many biologists agree, but controversy continues. Some acknowledge the potential importance of comparative methods but point to limitations that may reduce their usefulness (Reeve and Sherman 2001, Leroi et al. 1994). As such, these critiques are consistent with methodological adaptationism. Others view any allusion to potential non-adaptive influences on trait evolution to be mistaken; in their view, the importance of phylogenetic methods is that they help reveal complete history of natural selection on the trait (Grafen 1989). As such, this is a critique consistent with the espousal of empirical adaptationism.