Hip bone muscles. Monotremes and marsupials also possess a fourth pair of bones, the prepubes or "marsupial bones", which extend forward from the pubes, and help to support the abdominal muscles and, in marsupials, the pouch. In placental mammals, the pelvis as a whole is generally wider in females than in males, to allow for the birth of the young. The pelvic bones of cetaceans were formerly considered to be vestigial, but they are now known to play a role in sexual selection. Hip bone The hip bone (os coxa, innominate bone, pelvic bone or coxal bone) is a large flat bone,
Hip bone sacroiliac joint. Each hip bone is connected to the corresponding femur (thigh bone) (forming the primary connection between the bones of the lower limb and the axial skeleton) through the large ball and socket joint of the hip. The hip bone is formed by three parts: ilium, ischium, and pubis. At birth, these three components are separated by hyaline cartilage. They join each other in a Y-shaped portion of cartilage in the acetabulum. By the end of puberty the three regions will have fused together, and by the age of 25 they will have ossified. The two hip bones join