Skeletons

Hendrix 21 August 2018

Skeletons

At birth the human skeleton is made up of around 300 bones. By adulthood,some bones have fused together to end up with 206 bones. Humans bones grow continually from birth till our mid 20’s. Our skeleton’s bone mass is at its maximum density around the age of 30. If broken our bones will regrow and repair themselves. Often doctors will place a cast on splint to make sure these bones repair straight and true.

The axial skeleton part of the section of our human skeleton has 80 bones. It includes the vertebral column, the rib cage and the skull and helps us maintain our upright posture,by spreading the weight in the head, and upper areas down to the lower areas near the hips.

The appendicular skeletal system has six major functions including the production of blood cells, for support, for movement, for protection, for storage of ions and endocrine regulation. The longest bone in the human body is the thigh bone called the femur. The smallest bone found in the human body is located in the middle ear.     

The smallest bone found in the human skeleton is located in the middle of the  ear. The staples (or stirrup) bone is only 2.8 millimeters (0.11 inches) long. Like our skin , the human skeleton bones are also constantly worn down and remade, to the point where every 7 years we essentially have a new bone.

The area of the body with the most bones is the hand, fingers and wrist where there are 54 bones. Our teeth form part of the skeletal system, but are not counted as bones. There a just a few differences between human male  and female skeletons. The female skeleton is generally slightly smaller and the pelvis bones differ in shape, size and angle in order to assist with childbirth.