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Baculum

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Hylobius (talk | contribs) at 17:07, 5 February 2008 (added notes regarding the reduced size of the os penis in great apes, cases of penis ossification in humans, and one known case of a congenital os penis in a human.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

A raccoon baculum.

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, 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 raccoon baculum is sometimes worn as a luck or fertility charm.

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 clitoridis or ""os clitoris"".

Clellan S. Ford and Frank A Beach, Patterns of Sexual Behavior, p. 30 says "Both gorillas and chimpanzees possess a penile bone. In the latter species the os penis is located in the lower part of the organ and measures approximately three-quarters of an inch in length."

In humans, which lack the baculum and baubellum, the rigidity of the erection is provided entirely through blood pressure in the corpus cavernosum.

Examples

Penis bone (Os penis) of a dog, arrow shows the urethral sulcus.

Mammals having a penile bone (in males) and a clitoral bone (in females) include various eutherian Orders (not Marsupials or Monotremes):

Such a wide distribution among placental mammals suggests that the bone evolved early in the history of these mammals, and was subsequently lost in certain groups.

Raccoon penis bone

A raccoon penis bone is the baculum of a raccoon. It is sometimes used as a charm for luck or fertility.[1]

Author JT LeRoy's story Sarah features raccoon penis bones,[2] as does William Gibson's novel, Count Zero.

Oosik

Oosik is a term used in Alaska to describe the baculum (penile bone) of walruses, seals, sea lions, and polar bears. Sometimes as long as 60 cm (2 ft), it can be polished and used as a handle for knives and other tools. It is also frequently sold as a souvenir to tourists by Alaska Natives, the only people permitted to hunt the walrus today. In 2007 a 4.5 foot long fossilized penis bone from an extinct species of walrus, believed by the seller to be the largest in existence, sold for $8000.[3]

Walrus baculum, approximately 22 inches long

Absence in humans

Humans, unlike other primates, lack an os penis / os clitoris. However, this bone is much reduced among the great apes, in many species it is a relatively insignificant 10-20 mm structure. There are reported cases of human penis ossification following trauma,Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).

Biblical note

In the Bible's Book of Genesis, Adam's rib is removed to create Eve. Biblical Hebrew is not known to 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).

References

Notes

  1. ^ "Raccoon Penis Bones" (HTML). The Lucky W Amulet Archive by Cat Yronwode. Retrieved 2007-04-25.
  2. ^ "jt leroy - sarah faq" (HTML). Retrieved 2007-04-25.
  3. ^ "Walrus penis sells for $8,000 at Beverly Hills action" (HTML). AP. Retrieved 2007-08-30.

General 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.
  • Clellan S. And Frank A. Beach 1951 Patterns of Sexual Behavior Publisher: N.Y., Harper, and Paul B. Hoeber, Inc. Medical Books (ISBN 0313223556)
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