# Why don't I have a bone in my penis? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 26, 2004, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-i-have-a-bone-in-my-penis/271325 "2004-10-26T22:43:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-i-have-a-bone-in-my-penis/271325/1 "2004-10-26T22:43:51Z")
Lot’s of other mammals do. Why are primates excluded? What happened to our bone? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-i-have-a-bone-in-my-penis/271325/2 "2004-10-26T22:53:35Z")
Actually, most primates do, even chimpanzees (although a chimp’s is tiny, only 6 mm.) ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-i-have-a-bone-in-my-penis/271325/3 "2004-10-26T22:58:40Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Actually, most primates do, even chimpanzees (although a chimp’s is tiny, only 6 mm.) Do humans have one? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-i-have-a-bone-in-my-penis/271325/4 "2004-10-26T23:05:36Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Do humans have one? No. And offhand, I don’t know why we should lack one (although it’s quite small in the Great Apes). ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-i-have-a-bone-in-my-penis/271325/5 "2004-10-26T23:09:46Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > No. And offhand, I don’t know why we should lack one (although it’s quite small in the Great Apes). Could it have anything to do with the difference in size between our pensises and theirs? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-i-have-a-bone-in-my-penis/271325/6 "2004-10-26T23:28:38Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > No. And offhand, I don’t know why we should lack one (although it’s quite small in the Great Apes). I never knew this. Are there any fossil "penis bones"from early hominds that have been found? IE, do we know when the bone went missing in our evolutionary past? ---
**Author:** ![Scarface\_Z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Scarface\_Z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarface_Z)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-i-have-a-bone-in-my-penis/271325/7 "2004-10-26T23:29:43Z")
what purpose does this bone provide anyway? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-i-have-a-bone-in-my-penis/271325/8 "2004-10-26T23:40:43Z")
> [@Scarface Z](#): > > what purpose does this bone provide anyway? It makes “big-boned” into a complement. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-i-have-a-bone-in-my-penis/271325/9 "2004-10-26T23:51:37Z")
Do you really want one? As someone once noted (Allan Sherman, I think), what if you broke it? Who would sign your cast? (National Lampoon once ran a fake X-ray of a broken penis bone. The very _thought_ makes me hunch over.) ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-i-have-a-bone-in-my-penis/271325/10 "2004-10-26T23:59:44Z")
Incidently, the “penis bone” is called a [_baculum_](http://www.skullsunlimited.com/baculums.html) (or sometimes _os penis_). ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-i-have-a-bone-in-my-penis/271325/11 "2004-10-27T00:15:25Z")
> [@Scarface Z](#): > > what purpose does this bone provide anyway? Instant erections, I think. I think I saw something about this on the discovery channel a while back. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-i-have-a-bone-in-my-penis/271325/12 "2004-10-27T00:16:51Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > Instant erections, I think. I think I saw something about this on the discovery channel a while back. Or to quote the site linked to by **Darwin’s Finch** above: > [@](#): > > This bone aids in copulation when mates have only a short encounter and need to perform quickly ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-i-have-a-bone-in-my-penis/271325/13 "2004-10-27T00:20:24Z")
Also to quote from that site: > [@](#): > > The baculum…can be utilized as a coffee stirrer. Just in case anyone wondered. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-i-have-a-bone-in-my-penis/271325/14 "2004-10-27T00:35:40Z")
True item: The penis of of one animal (the raccoon, I think) has a tiny hole in it, so the American Indians used it as a sewing needle – no need to try and drill that annoying eye. ---
**Author:** ![Hadrian0117](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Hadrian0117](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hadrian0117)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-i-have-a-bone-in-my-penis/271325/15 "2004-10-27T00:53:41Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > Instant erections, I think. I think I saw something about this on the discovery channel a while back. That happens anyway! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-i-have-a-bone-in-my-penis/271325/16 "2004-10-27T00:54:29Z")
Alaskan natives refer to the penis bone of the walrus as an _oosik_. I have one sitting on my bookcase in the living room. Envision a bone-white Louisville Slugger, in miniature. Well, not _that_ miniature…it’s a good 18" longs and weighs a couple of pounds! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-i-have-a-bone-in-my-penis/271325/17 "2004-10-27T01:00:54Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > I never knew this. Are there any fossil "penis bones"from early hominds that have been found? IE, do we know when the bone went missing in our evolutionary past? Given the extremely fragmentary nature of almost all early hominids (and of apes as well) it would be very surprising to find one preserved. Therefore when it went missing would be almost impossible to determine. [This site](http://www.conservationandscience.org/projects/pd_significance_baculum.html) discusses “What is the Significance of the Baculum in Mammals?” ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-i-have-a-bone-in-my-penis/271325/18 "2004-10-27T01:20:21Z")
I wish I could remember where I heard this, but I seem to recall reading that it has to do with our upright position and the fact that we keep our penises outside of our body. Boneless just seems to work better in our case. Sorry - I don’t remember the details. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-i-have-a-bone-in-my-penis/271325/19 "2004-10-27T02:34:42Z")
> [@Darwin's Finch](#): > > Incidently, the “penis bone” is called a [_baculum_](http://www.skullsunlimited.com/baculums.html) (or sometimes _os penis_). I guess that means that a person with a baccalaureate is a bonehead. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-i-have-a-bone-in-my-penis/271325/20 "2004-10-27T02:54:41Z")
> [@Darwin's Finch](#): > > Incidently, the “penis bone” is called a [_baculum_](http://www.skullsunlimited.com/baculums.html) (or sometimes _os penis_). (…fighting urge to make joke at expense of Scott Bakula…) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-i-have-a-bone-in-my-penis/271325.md?page=2)