Bob: When I worked at the Smithsonian Institution, Wash., D.C., in the Division of Mammals, we actually had a special room devoted to ... bacula. Bat bacula (eentsie weentsie items -- one woman's job was to write the Smithsonian's accession numbers -- a 6 digit number -- on every single bone...what a job!), rat bacula (yes, Burt is famous/notorious for his work, especially of ways to tell some species of New World rats & mice apart, and how they reproduce... in great, numerical, detail of how and when and how long and how many and how often and... you get the picture), all the way to whale and walrus bacula (wow!) including some wonderful examples of Native American Alaskan art. We had some "fertility" (and how!) carvings 6+ feet long made from whale bacula. The most fun was that workers there, my then-SO included, loved to take their parents on tour... and include that room. I'll never forget the look on Mrs. M's face when she finally realized what she'd been looking at and handling... the only time I ever saw her speechless. She didn't speak to her son, or to me, for a good hour afterwards. Hey, wasn't *my* idea... he thunk it up all on his own. Several species of mice and rats, notably the deer mice, or Peromyscus, cannot be told apart in the field, and the best way to "key" them out is to reduce a male to bones (eeewwwww, they're so cute, I cannot imagine doing this deliberately) and inspect his baculum. I always enjoy your contributions to the FML -- the way you describe things biological, and your wonderful analogies, usually give me a smile. JodyLee Estrada Duek [log in to unmask] Faculty Development Specialist 520/626-2203 Division of Academic Resources 520/626-6707 (secretary) U. of Arizona School of Medicine 520/626-4879 (fax) Tucson, Arizona 85724 [Posted in FML issue 1499]