Body system · 220 pieces

Skeleton

Bones and cartilage: the body's load-bearing frame.

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Overview

The adult skeleton has 206 bones plus the cartilages that cap joints, join the ribs to the sternum and shape the nose and airway. It is organised into an axial skeleton (skull, vertebral column, ribs and sternum) that protects the brain, spinal cord, heart and lungs, and an appendicular skeleton (the limbs with their girdles) built for movement. Bone is living tissue: it remodels throughout life in response to load, stores calcium and phosphate, and houses the marrow that makes blood cells.

Functions

  • Supports the body and gives it shape
  • Protects the brain, spinal cord and thoracic organs
  • Provides levers and attachment points for muscles
  • Stores calcium and phosphate
  • Houses red marrow, the site of blood cell production

Clinical notes

  • Fractures follow trauma or weakened bone (osteoporosis)
  • Osteoarthritis wears the articular cartilage of weight-bearing joints
  • Scoliosis, kyphosis and disc disease affect the vertebral column

Organs & groups in this system

Skull

22 bones forming the cranium that protects the brain and the facial skeleton.

23 structures

Vertebral column

33 vertebrae with their discs: the flexible pillar that carries the head and protects the spinal cord.

48 structures · full anatomy article

Rib cage

Twelve pairs of ribs, their costal cartilages and the sternum protect the heart and lungs and move with breathing.

41 structures

Bony pelvis

The two hip bones with the sacrum and coccyx transfer body weight to the legs and protect pelvic organs.

3 structures

Shoulder girdle

Clavicle and scapula link each arm to the trunk.

4 structures

Hand skeleton

27 bones per hand: 8 carpals, 5 metacarpals and 14 phalanges.

54 structures

Foot skeleton

26 bones per foot: 7 tarsals, 5 metatarsals and 14 phalanges.

52 structures

Knee joint

The largest joint in the body: femur, tibia and patella held by four ligaments and cushioned by two menisci, with the fibula alongside.

10 structures · full anatomy article

All structures 217

220 modelled pieces. Click a structure to open it in the atlas.