Strange bones #5

This is a bone I found on a walk last week in the Pheasant Woods. It's a very unusual bone. I have found two like it before, and it took a while to work out what they were.

The first time I found this type of bone was on a walk near the geese lakes. In a small wood, I found it next to some other bones, and I kept it because it was unusual. It was in a loop like a small horseshoe that was bent, and the ends had points.



My dad worked it out by going on the internet and looking at lots of animal skeletons. He though it was a bird bone because it was so light. Eventually, he found out that it was a furcula.

A furcula is a bone that birds have and dinosaurs used to have. It is at the top of the rib cage and at the bottom of the neck. Millions of years ago, it used to be two different bones, the clavicles, which have joined together over time. This bones makes the bird's ribcage stronger to make it easier to fly.

The furcula I found last weekend is smaller than the other two I have. Here is a picture of it next to my Lego Han Solo to give you an idea how big it is.



Here's it next to the other two furculas I have.



The one on the left is one I found last weekend. I think it is off a pheasant, although I don't really know.

The one on the right I found in the Secret Vault. Because it is so big, and because I found swan skulls at the same time, I think this came off a swan.

The middle one I'm not sure about, but I think it came off something like a goose.

Although the three are the same type of bone, they are all bit a different. The two smaller ones have got a knobbly bit in the middle, but the biggest doesn't. And the biggest has two small holes in each side, but the other two don't.

It's good on a walk when you come across a difficult bone but you already know what it is.

Enjoy this post ? Share it !