Homo erectus has clitorises, too.
December 14, 2016 9:58 AM   Subscribe

You've probably heard that humans are lacking a penis bone, the baculum. But did you know that we also lack a clitoral bone?
posted by ChuraChura (32 comments total) 18 users marked this as a favorite


 
“an enlarged, spinescent clitoris supported by an os clitoridis”

Just wanted to mention that this is a fun phrase to say. OK, back to reading.
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:03 AM on December 14, 2016 [1 favorite]


If these articles don't result in a future porn star named Scott Baculum, I will be sorely disappointed.
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:04 AM on December 14, 2016 [23 favorites]


We’re not unique among primates in lacking osteological genital curiosities.

Thank heavens! I was beginning to feel lonely!

The writer has a deliciously dry sense of humor.

A real funny bone, even.
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:08 AM on December 14, 2016 [6 favorites]


Had, certainly.
posted by Etrigan at 10:14 AM on December 14, 2016 [1 favorite]


Oh, drat.
posted by ChuraChura at 10:14 AM on December 14, 2016 [1 favorite]


Why am I so afraid that's an "I gave away the secret" drat rather than an "I messed up the tense" drat?
posted by Etrigan at 10:15 AM on December 14, 2016 [7 favorites]


But did you know that we also lack a clitoral bone?

I mean, I knew I lacked a clitoral bone, but I didn't feel self-conscious about it until you brought it up just then.
posted by logicpunk at 10:16 AM on December 14, 2016 [15 favorites]


Baculum & Baubellum
Indie folk/pop duo, or trendy upscale body piercing studio?
posted by Kabanos at 10:37 AM on December 14, 2016 [3 favorites]


Then why do we call it 'boning?' Huh? Huh?
posted by jonmc at 10:37 AM on December 14, 2016 [2 favorites]


Dunno. Seems it's a boneless banquet
posted by iotic at 10:39 AM on December 14, 2016


first the g-spot, now the clitoral bone

lady bodies are bermuda triangles

pls someone make body gps before i poke out an eye again
posted by Foci for Analysis at 10:42 AM on December 14, 2016 [2 favorites]


before i poke out an eye again

Ur doin' it rong.
posted by briank at 10:43 AM on December 14, 2016 [5 favorites]


"while a great deal of ink has been spilled over the function of the baculum and our lack, I haven’t been able to find so much as even a minor degree of interest into why the baubellum evolved and exists in many mammal species."

Oh really wow you're telling me that scientists/anyone have neglected to give a shit about female anatomy this is quite the shocker sorry I know that sarcasm is obnoxious but I can't rustle up a sincere response to seeing the same stupid shit over and over
posted by bleep at 10:57 AM on December 14, 2016 [20 favorites]


I bet there's a healthy percentage of women who do not know that they lack a clitoris bone because our bodies are uninteresting, unimportant and shameful especially the parts that don't directly literally contribute to baby making.
posted by bleep at 10:59 AM on December 14, 2016 [1 favorite]


I'm not clear on whether a majority of mammals have a baubellum so saying humans "lack" one isn't exactly accurate. We don't lack a salt gland, we just don't have one.

You're perfect the way you are ladies.
posted by GuyZero at 11:09 AM on December 14, 2016 [4 favorites]


The first scientifically named dinosaur bone was called scrotum humanum because it looked like a giant pair of human testicles.
posted by adept256 at 11:18 AM on December 14, 2016 [3 favorites]


[ray holt voice] BOOOOONNNNE!
posted by poffin boffin at 11:30 AM on December 14, 2016 [5 favorites]


Obligatory Fishbone song.
posted by stannate at 11:38 AM on December 14, 2016


Down here in the hoodoo South, a raccoon's penis bone is, historically, used as a sex charm.
posted by Bob Regular at 11:55 AM on December 14, 2016


The peen bone's connected to the clit bone
Now hear the word of the Lord.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 12:14 PM on December 14, 2016 [7 favorites]


I used to teach comparative anatomy. When we were doing the reproductive system in cats, a (slightly obnoxious, overly eager) medical student asked me if the clitoris was going to be on the exam. I told him no, because half the class wouldn't be able to find it.

I think my teaching partner had to leave the room because she couldn't stop laughing.
posted by caution live frogs at 12:25 PM on December 14, 2016 [17 favorites]


Then why do we call it 'boning?' Huh? Huh?

Anachronistic slang.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 12:28 PM on December 14, 2016 [2 favorites]



If these articles don't result in a future porn star named Scott Baculum, I will be sorely disappointed.


Scott Baculum would have made Enterprise much more interesting.
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:54 PM on December 14, 2016 [3 favorites]


why can't the hospitals just let everyone's clitorises grow naturally ?
posted by screenname00 at 12:59 PM on December 14, 2016


well duh. men and women have the same parts, organized differently. stands to reason we would evolve similarly.

HOWEVER, I am now (unfortunately) fascinated with the concept of penile ossification.
posted by mrgrimm at 1:42 PM on December 14, 2016 [2 favorites]


Just Nature's way of preventing chipped teeth, I suppose.
posted by etherist at 1:45 PM on December 14, 2016


Them bones, them bones, them sex bones,
Them bones, them bones, them sex bones,
Them bones, them bones, them sex bones,
Now hear the word of the Lord!

I can't quite get anything to work with "The dong bone's connected to the clit bone..."

[apologies, hairy lobster, I missed your earlier comment to this effect]
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:49 PM on December 14, 2016 [1 favorite]


My wife has a great family story about penis bones. While small children at the natural history museum, she and her slightly older brother Paul saw a whale's penis bone with an explanatory plaque. Not realizing what she was reading, she loudly asked, "Paul, what is a "pennis" (rhymes with tennis) bone?" Being on the edge of teenagerdom, and naturally mortified, Paul began to walk quickly away. Jeanette wasn't having this, so she ran after him shouting "WHAT IS A PENNIS BONE?!" He ran faster, and this lasted for the length of the museum.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 4:16 PM on December 14, 2016 [5 favorites]


“With prolonged androgen treatment”, osteologist Brian Hall has written about this find in scientific deadpan, “growth of these induced bones can be promoted and the distal element extended.”

I took Evo-Devo from Brian Hall. I'm not sure if I'm miffed or relieved that he never mentioned the sex dimorphic penis and clitoris bones. It seems like it would have been highly relevant.
posted by Made of Star Stuff at 4:25 PM on December 14, 2016 [2 favorites]


I read it wondering what the bone was for, and I liked how the article ended:

There’s an assumption that the clitoral bone is functionally unimportant and just a case of females developing a masculine trait – a reverse of males having nipples. But I believe the bone is more unstudied than insignificant.

If no one thinks to ask the questions, then we'll never find the interesting answers.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:43 PM on December 14, 2016 [2 favorites]


Homo erectus has clitorises, too.

Clitorides is way cooler sounding.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:21 PM on December 14, 2016 [1 favorite]


MetaFilter: a great family story about penis bones
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:34 AM on December 15, 2016 [1 favorite]


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