Just how useful is a wishbone to a chicken? Find out with our expert guide <\/p>
From its evolutionary origins to its role in festive gatherings, we take a look at the curious history and enduring significance of this tiny yet beloved bone.<\/strong><\/p> Formally known as the furcula, it is equivalent to the collarbones of mammals, but the two halves are fused together at an acute angle to form a single v-shaped structure. <\/p> Thanks to the Sunday lunch tradition of pulling it apart with one\u2019s pinkie fingers until it breaks and making a wish if you end up with the big half, the wishbone is one of the most familiar bones in a bird\u2019s skeleton.<\/p> The wishbone serves as a strut between the bird\u2019s shoulders to keep them apart, and as a point of attachment for the pectoral muscles that power the downstroke of the wings. <\/p> But it also functions as a spring, used to store energy during flight. As they contract to pull the wings downwards, the pectoral muscles separate the ends of the furcula, which then spring back together at the end of the downstroke to add power to the upstroke and pump extra air into the lungs.<\/p> The furcula was already present in the earliest bird-like dinosaurs, such as\u00a0Archaeopteryx<\/em>. However, it was too short to support large pectoral muscles, which is one line of evidence for the idea that\u00a0Archaeopteryx<\/em>\u00a0was more of a glider than an active flyer.<\/p> Can you hypnotise a chicken?<\/a>, which came first the chicken or the egg<\/a> and can chickens fly<\/a>? Our experts answer these and other poultry<\/a>-related questions.<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n Just how useful is a wishbone to a chicken? Find out with our expert guide <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":36726,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/03\/what-is-a-chicken-wishbone.jpg",2560,1829,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/03\/what-is-a-chicken-wishbone-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/03\/what-is-a-chicken-wishbone-300x214.jpg",300,214,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/03\/what-is-a-chicken-wishbone-768x549.jpg",768,549,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/03\/what-is-a-chicken-wishbone-1024x732.jpg",800,572,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/03\/what-is-a-chicken-wishbone-1536x1097.jpg",1536,1097,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/03\/what-is-a-chicken-wishbone-2048x1463.jpg",2048,1463,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Just how useful is a wishbone to a chicken? Find out with our expert guide","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/36725"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What is a chicken wishbone?<\/h2>
Where is a chicken wishbone?<\/h2>
Find out more <\/h3>
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