Baculum
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The baculum (also penis bone, penile bone or os penis) is a bone found in the penis of most mammals. It is absent in humans, other primates, equids, marsupials, lagomorphs, and hyenas, amongst others. It is used for copulation and varies in size and shape by species. Its characteristics are sometimes used to differentiate between similar species.
The oosik of Native Alaskan cultures is a polished and sometimes carved baculum of various large northern carnivores such as walruses.
The word baculum originally meant "stick" or "staff" in Latin. The homologue to the baculum in female mammals is known as the baubellum or os clitoris.
In humans, which lack the baculum and baubellum, the rigidity of the erection is provided entirely through blood pressure in the corpus cavernosum.
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[edit] Examples
Animals with a penile bone include:
[edit] Biblical note
In the Bible's Book of Genesis, Adam's rib is removed to create Eve. Biblical Hebrew does not have a word for penis. Some (Gilbert and Zevit 2001) have suggested this story is an explanatory myth to explain the absence of a baculum in the male human, rather than a missing rib (in light of the fact that men and women have the same number of ribs).
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Gilbert, Scott F. and Ziony Zevit. 2001. Congenital human baculum deficiency: The generative bone of Genesis 2:21–23. American Journal of Medical Genetics 101(3): 284–285.
[edit] External links
- Beresford WA, Burkart S. The penile bone and anterior process of the rat in scanning electron microscopy. J Anat. 1977 Dec;124(3):589–97.
- Some pictures of real and replica penis bone samples
- The San Diego Zoo's Conservation and research for endangered species projects. 'What is the significance of the baculum in animals?'
- The baculum as "Adam's rib"
- The baculum making headlines
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