Thread: Costs of mammoth ivory?

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Actually, most mammoth that comes to market (the drab brown colors) is dreged out of the sea around greenland.
Neil. 3 animals have an oosik,do you know which ones?, the smallest one, they make toothpicks out of them

That makes sense, Pixel - they have found human bones and settlements by dredging the corridor of land that once connected the UK with europe, too.

No, I don't know the other animals with an oosik, but the way some get locked together after doing 'the wild thing' makes me wonder! Cats, possibly? Do tell!

Regards,
Neil

Well, it looks like Pixelfixed has forgotten about this thread, so I did a little googling and found that a whole slew of animals have an oosic, also known as a baculum and os penis:

Primates like the gorilla, marmoset, chimpanzee, etc but not in humans or spider monkeys.
Rodents like rats though not in the related order Lagomorpha (rabbits, hares etc.).
Insectivores, including moles, shrews, and hedgehogs.
Carnivores including bears, cats, dogs, walruses, seals, sea lions, raccoons, minks, coyotes, badger, red fox, otters, weasels, skunks and others).
Chiroptera (bats).

The baculum of the marmoset is around 2mm long, apes under 20mm, bush-baby 13mm, raccoon over 90mm.

The word 'oosic' tends to be used for walruses, sea lions, polar bears.

From what I can gather, the penile bone of the raccoon or possum is referred to as a 'Texas Toothpick.'

Regards,
Neil