The bones of the fore-limb
(arm) of a Beluga. The single stocky bone on the
left is the humerus, the equivalent of your upper
arm bone from shoulder to elbow, note the massive
ball which forms part of the shoulder ball and
socket joint.
The two bones below this are the radius and ulna of
the fore-arm. Notice how the bones are fused
together at the equivalent of your elbow, this is
because the fore-limb in a Beluga is a short and
powerful flipper with relatively limited motion
compared to your arms. The bones of the wrist and
fingers have become detached and are missing from
this specimen, they would have extended into a short
flipper about half as long again as the elements
that are present.
77° 33.3' N, 15°
00' E
Picture
copyright Paul Ward |
|
Previous page