Distribution of Bones in the Human Skeleton
How the 206 bones of the adult human skeleton are shared across the body's regions. The limbs dominate the count: the arms and legs together contain more than 120 of the body's bones, mostly in the intricate hands and feet.
About This Dataset
Distribution of Bones in the Human SkeletonThe 206-bone total is heavily weighted toward the limbs: the upper limbs with the shoulder girdle (64) and the lower limbs with the pelvic girdle (62) together account for 126 bones - more than 60% of the whole skeleton - driven by the many small bones of the hands and feet. The axial skeleton is far more economical: the vertebral column (26), thoracic cage (25) and skull (22) are each built from a modest number of larger bones. The extremes are striking: the ear ossicles contribute 6 tiny bones and the hyoid just 1, the only bone in the body not joined to any other. The pattern reflects a design trade-off - dexterous extremities need many jointed bones, while the protective core needs fewer, sturdier ones.
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Distribution of Bones in the Human Skeleton
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