Skeletal System
Skeletal System
Skeletal System
The 206 bones of the skeletal system carry out six important anatomic and physiologic
functions:
They protect internal tissues and organs; for example, the 33 vertebrae surround and
protect the spinal cord, brain, and heart.
They stabilize and support the body.
They provide surfaces for muscle, ligament, and tendon attachment.
They move through lever action when contracted.
They produce red blood cells (RBCs) in the bone marrow (a process called
hematopoiesis, from the Greek haima, or blood, and poiesis, meaning making or
forming).
They store mineral salts; for example, approximately 99% of the body’s calcium.
Calcaneus Kal-kay-nee-uhs
Coccyx Kok-siks
Hematopoiesis Hee-muh-toe-poy-ee-sis
Occipital Ok-sip-uh-tuhl
Periosteum Per-ee-os-tee-uhm
Xiphoid process Zeye-foyd Prah-sess
Bones-r-us
The skeleton is divided into two parts: the axial (from the Latin axis, meaning
axle or wheel) and appendicular (from the Latin appendare, meaning to add or
append). The axial skeleton forms the body’s vertical axis and contains 74
bones in the head and torso; it also includes 6 bones of the middle ear, for a total
of 80 bones. (See the body’s bones.)
Anatomically speaking
The body’s
one
b s
The human skeleton contains 206 bones; 80 form the axial skeleton and 126 form the
appendicular skeleton. The illustrations below
show some of the major bones and bone groups.
The appendicular skeleton contains 126 bones and
extremities
upper part of the head), and the face. Eight bones form the
Getting it together
Sutures are immobile joints that hold the skull bones together.
The coronal suture unites the frontal bone and the two
parietal bones. In infants, this suture isn’t closed, leaving a
diamond-shaped area (called the anterior fontanel), which is
covered only by a membrane. This soft spot closes between
ages 10 and 18 months. At the back of the head of infants, the
posterior fontanel closes by age 2 months.
A real airhead
Sinuses are air-filled spaces within the skull that lessen the
bone weight, moisten incoming air, and act as resonating
chambers for the voice.
Up front
The sinuses, the forehead, and the area directly behind it
are part of the frontal bone. This bone also forms the
orbits (eye sockets) and the front part of the cranial
floor.
• The coronal suture connects the frontal bone with the parietal
bones.
• Two parietal bones crown the head, forming the roof and the
upper part of each side of the skull.
• The squamous suture connects the parietal bones with the
temporal bones.
• Temporal bones form the lower part of the sides of the skull
and part of its floor. They contain structures of the middle and
inner ear and the mastoid sinuses.
Anatomically
speaking
Bones of the skull
thought this triangular bone resembled the shape of the bird’s bill.
Ribs
The flat, curved bones attached to the thoracic portion
A handful of terms
Lower extremities
The lower extremities contain bones of the hip, thigh, leg,
It sayshere that
ankle, and foot. the word patella,
for kneecap, is a
Girdle words Latin word that
Three pairs of bones fuse during childhood to form the pelvic girdle, means a small, flat
the broadest bone in the body. This bone supports the dish—just what
trunk, protects the abdominal organs within its basin, the kneecap looks
like
and attaches the lower extremities to the body. The three
pairs of fused bones include the ilium, which is the
largest and uppermost of the three; the ischium, the
lower and strongest set of bones; and the pubis, a pair of
anterior bones that meet at the symphysis pubis—a car
- tilaginous joint.
Give ’em a leg up
The two femurs, or upper leg bones, are the longest and
heaviest bones in the body. They connect at the proximal
end with the hip, articulating with the acetabulum, or
hip socket. The femurs connect with the tibia at the dis-
tal end. The kneecap, or patella, is a small, flat bone that protects the knee joint
and overlaps the distal end of the femur and the proximal end of the tibia.
Osteon,Greek forbone,provides a key word-forming root for medical terms relatingoste- to bones,
orosteo-.Osteoblastis a
com- pound ofosteo-and-blast;the latter is another common medical root derived from a Greek word bud thatormeans
a a
shoot of adeveloping organism.
Anosteoblast is thusa cell that buds forth new bone tissue.
The Greek wordclast,on the
other hand, means to breakorfragment.Therefore, anosteoclastisa cell that breaks down bone.
Cartilage
Bones and joints need support as well as shock
absorp- tion. Cartilage is a dense connective tissue
that has these capabilities. It consists of fibers
embedded in a strong, gel-like substance. Unlike
rigid bone, cartilage has the flexibility of firm plastic.
Types of cartilage
Cartilage may be fibrous, hyaline, or elastic:
Bone movement
Bones are rigid structures that can’t bend without being
damaged, so individual bones move at joint sites, or
Articulations. Every bone in the body except the hyoid bone,
which anchors the tongue, is connected to another bone by
flexible connective tissue.
How does it move?
Classifying joints
Joints can be classified by the type of movement they al- low and by their structure.
The three classes of joints identified by the range of movement they allow are:
• synarthrosis—immovable • amphiarthrosis—slightly movable • diarthrosis—
freely movable.
Our joints are
What is it made of? jumpin’! It must
By structure, a joint may be classified as fibrous, carti- be that
laginous, or synovial. In fibrous joints, the articular sur- diarthrosis
faces of the two bones are bound closely by fibrous con- nective tissue and little
movement is possible. The cranial sutures are examples of fibrous joints.
In cartilaginous joints, cartilage connects one bone to another; these joints
allow slight movement. An example is the symphysis pubis (the junction of the pelvic
bones).
Body surfaces in the synovial joints are covered by articular cartilage and joined
by ligaments (dense, strong, flexible bands of fibrous connective tissue that bind
bones to other bones) lined with synovial mem- brane. Freely movable, synovial
joints include most joints of the arms and legs. Synovial joints also include an ar-
ticular capsule—a saclike envelope, whose outer layer