Or more commonly known as the collar bone. This bone does not seem to have any special purpose besides connecting to our manubrium (top of the breast bone) and our scapula (shoulder blade), but this seemingly unimportant bone does so much for us primates and a selective number of non-primate mammals. The clavicle keeps the shoulders to the side, helps us keep a front running motion, and most of all the clavicle is crucial for climbing in trees.
Now I use the word “crucial” because our arboreal origins is what helped us survive in in the early stages of evolution. Even nowadays, the clavicle is helping in the survival of many monkey's; it keeps them safe from leopards, or snakes, or other predators on the ground. That said, the clavicle has been found in many prehistoric animals, but we primates were lucky enough to be one of those who retained it. There are also other animals, squirrels, bears, and cats, who, unlike humans, have free-floating clavicles (which is why cats can squeeze into any place their head can), that have retained the clavicle.
The key into finding if an animal has a clavicle all lies in one fact, can they climb? Humans have lost this skill as second nature, but we still can climb trees, rocks, and other objects. For example, going up a ladder is easier for a human than let us say a dog, because of that one bone. Without the clavicle we would be down a stream with no paddle, or to be more exact in the case of our evolutionary ancestors, down a tree with a predator waiting in the high grass for a primate snack. So in reality, this small but amazing bone is what we owe a good part of our survival to (image below).
Now I use the word “crucial” because our arboreal origins is what helped us survive in in the early stages of evolution. Even nowadays, the clavicle is helping in the survival of many monkey's; it keeps them safe from leopards, or snakes, or other predators on the ground. That said, the clavicle has been found in many prehistoric animals, but we primates were lucky enough to be one of those who retained it. There are also other animals, squirrels, bears, and cats, who, unlike humans, have free-floating clavicles (which is why cats can squeeze into any place their head can), that have retained the clavicle.
The key into finding if an animal has a clavicle all lies in one fact, can they climb? Humans have lost this skill as second nature, but we still can climb trees, rocks, and other objects. For example, going up a ladder is easier for a human than let us say a dog, because of that one bone. Without the clavicle we would be down a stream with no paddle, or to be more exact in the case of our evolutionary ancestors, down a tree with a predator waiting in the high grass for a primate snack. So in reality, this small but amazing bone is what we owe a good part of our survival to (image below).
With that ends another fun fact Friday. If you have an itching to get to the bottom of a small fact that has been festering in your mind, or if you have a blog topic you would like me to cover, or if you would just like to express your thoughts on this first Fun Fact Friday, please feel free to comment below.
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