From its evolutionary origins to its role in festive gatherings, we take a look at the curious history and enduring significance of this tiny yet beloved bone.
What is a chicken wishbone?
Formally known as the furcula, it is equivalent to the collarbones of mammals, but the two halves are fused together at an acute angle to form a single v-shaped structure.
Thanks to the Sunday lunch tradition of pulling it apart with one’s pinkie fingers until it breaks and making a wish if you end up with the big half, the wishbone is one of the most familiar bones in a bird’s skeleton.
Where is a chicken wishbone?
The wishbone serves as a strut between the bird’s shoulders to keep them apart, and as a point of attachment for the pectoral muscles that power the downstroke of the wings.
But it also functions as a spring, used to store energy during flight. As they contract to pull the wings downwards, the pectoral muscles separate the ends of the furcula, which then spring back together at the end of the downstroke to add power to the upstroke and pump extra air into the lungs.
The furcula was already present in the earliest bird-like dinosaurs, such as Archaeopteryx. However, it was too short to support large pectoral muscles, which is one line of evidence for the idea that Archaeopteryx was more of a glider than an active flyer.
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