Your Dog Has A Bone You Don’t — Here’s Why

Your dog has a bone you don't: the baculum. Cats, chimps, gorillas and even walruses still have it, but humans lost it. Here's the surprising evolutionary reason why, and why that missing bone may give men an early warning sign for heart health. For tens of millions of years, our ancestors carried this bone. Then, somewhere on the road to modern humans, it vanished. In this science explainer, we follow three clues (time, rivals, and a strange experiment with mice) to find out why humans are the only great ape without it. In this video you'll discover: 🦴 Why a walrus carries a 2-foot bone while a lemur's is under half an inch 🌳 What a family tree of nearly 2,000 mammal species revealed in 2016 🐒 Why bonobos kept a bone the size of a grain of rice 🐭 How 27 generations of mice showed that mating rules can reshape a bone 📖 Richard Dawkins' "honest signal" idea from The Selfish Gene ❤️ Why doctors treat this missing bone as a "check engine light" for the heart ⏱️ CHAPTERS 0:00 The bone your dog has and you don't 0:46 Just weird animal trivia? 1:13 The 2016 family-tree study 2:07 Clue 1: Time 3:02 Clue 2: Rivals (the bonobo mystery) 4:11 Clue 3: The mouse experiment 5:13 What replaced the bone 5:41 Richard Dawkins' honest-signal idea 6:13 What scientists still don't know 6:50 The heart warning sign doctors see every day 8:04 Your dog vs. you 📚 SOURCES & FURTHER READING - Brindle, M. & Opie, C. (2016). Postcopulatory sexual selection influences baculum evolution in primates and carnivores. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. - Simmons, L. W. & Firman, R. C. Experimental evidence for the evolution of the mammalian baculum by sexual selection. Evolution. - Dawkins, R. The Selfish Gene (2nd edition). - McLean, C. Y. et al. (2011). Human-specific loss of regulatory DNA and the evolution of human-specific traits. Nature. ⚕️ This video is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. If you have health concerns, please talk to a doctor. 💬 Which pet in your home has a bone you don't? Tell us in the comments! 👉 Subscribe for more videos on ancient humans, evolution and the hidden science of your body. #HumanEvolution #Evolution #ScienceExplained #Baculum #AnimalFacts