Where is the wishbone in animals?
The scientific name for a wishbone is the furcula, which is Latin for ‘little fork.’
The furcula is a forked bone with two slightly curved parts that meet at the top, forming a type of V-shape. There is a tradition that if two people each pull one side of the bone, it will snap, and the person who gets the larger part can make a wish.
The wishbone or furcula is also called the collarbone.
The wishbone is found only in birds and some dinosaurs. Birds are the only vertebrate animals (animals with a backbone) that have a fused collarbone.
The wishbone helps the bird to lift its wings during the upstroke as it flaps its wings when flying.
Bird Skeleton with the furcula (in red): furcula.png (2007), Username=Toony
Wishbone photo: The B&B Team (2019), https://bbteam.com
Photographer: Martina Nicolls
Martina Nicolls: SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM