Anatomical Comparison: Femur

The images compare the length of the femur bones in three different species: human, cow, and pig.

• What has caused the human femur bone to be so elongated over time when compared to other animals?

• How does the Homo sapien femur bone compare to previous human ancestors’ femur bones?
• Does weight or how an animal walks have a relationship to the femur size and structure?

Students could:

• Investigate how the shape of the femur relates to its function.
• Think about how natural selection has influenced the shape and size of the human femur.
• Conduct research to investigate if all animals have the same femur to overall size relationship.

• ResearchGate | Comparison of femoral size and anatomy among animal species (photo): This photo shows several different femur bones from different species.
• Phys.org | Study of 90 animals' thigh bones reveals how they can efficiently carry loads: This 2011 article highlights a study of thigh bones from 90 different animals and discusses how these bones help them efficiently carry loads.