A forensic anthropologist is attending your school’s career
fair. She brings with her both actual bone specimens as well as a presentation.
She picks up a hip bone and says “did you know that when you are born this bone
is actually three separate bones: the ilium, ischium, and pubis? In most of you
they are just now beginning to fuse together.” Then, while holding a femur she
explained that “the ends of the long bones fuse to the shaft at various ages,
and for the femur, this is between 14 and 21 years, and for the clavicle, it
occurs between 20 and 30 years of age. Why do you think the skeleton starts off
with more separate bones and fuses them along the life span? Are there any
advantages to either unfused or fused bones?