October ... with the arrival of fall, our thoughts turn to the many educators in the biological sciences who work to encourage curiosity in their students while educating them in the scientific method: both theory and practice.

With educators in mind, we created "Hands, Feet, and Sustained Speed: Osteological Adaptations" a four-page printable handout.

Page 1 of the handout features our products (or portions of them) positioned over 19th Century naturalist Ernst Haeckel's illustration of the hands of different mammals showing their osteological similarities. Haeckel promoted Darwin's theory of evolution using illustrations such as these.

Pages 2 and 3 of the handout feature Bone Clones® products that may be useful in the study of locomotion and evolution in response to environment. Animals that rely on sustained speed for survival, such as HORSE (cursorial prey) and DOG (cursorial predator), have limbs and extremities that are longer and may have fewer bones as compared to HUMAN (ambulatory) limbs and extremities. Concepts of locomotion types, leverage, maneuverability, adaptations in response to environmental changes, and the ability to manipulate objects can be explored.

Images depict differences in length and number of bones between cursorial and ambulatory species.

Color is for visualization purposes in the graphic. The products are a natural bone color.

K-12, Locomotion, and Locomotion Sets