furcula

American  

[fur-kyuh-luh] / ˈfɜr kyə lə /

noun

plural

furculae

1. the forked clavicular bone of a bird; wishbone.

2. the ventral, forked appendage on the abdomen of a springtail that the insect uses in springing itself into the air.

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furcula British  

/ ˈfɜːkjʊlə, ˈfɜːkjʊləm /

noun

1. any forklike part or organ, esp the fused clavicles (wishbone) of birds

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Other Word Forms

• furcular adjective

Etymology

Origin of furcula

1855–60; < Latin: a forked prop. See fork, -ule

Example Sentences

The furcula is flexible enough to bend and provide support to the shoulder girdle during flapping.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

“The clavicle part is real. In birds, the fused clavicles form the furcula, or wishbone. And nowadays—in 2014—we know that dinosaurs had wishbones, too.”

From Newsweek

He was the paleontologist who discovered the furcula of a Tyrannosaurus rex.

From Newsweek

The arms of the furcula in all the specimens which I compared, diverged less, proportionally with the size of body, than in the rock-pigeon; and the whole furculum was proportionally shorter.

From The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication — Volume 1 by Darwin, Charles

We thus clearly see that the sternum, scapul�, and furcula are all reduced in proportional length; but when we turn to the wings we find what at first appears a wholly different and unexpected result.

From The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication, Vol. I. by Darwin, Charles