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The skeleton has 2 sub-divisions:
 Axial Skeleton
 Appendicular Skeleton
Joints, Cartilages & Ligaments
The 5 functions of the bones:
 Support
 Protection
 Movement
 Storage
 Blood Cell Formation
Classifications of Bones:
 Adult skeleton = 206 bones
 Infant skeleton = 300 bones
1. Compact Bone – dense and looks smooth and
homogenous
2. Spongy Bone – composed of small needlelike
pieces of bone and lots of open space
 Long bones
- typically longer than they are wide
- have a shaft with heads at both end
- mostly compact bone
Microscopic Anatomy
 Short bones
- generally cube-shaped & contain
mostly spongy bone
- sesamoid bones : special type of short
bone that form within tendons – best
known example is the patella
 Flat bones
- thin, flattened, and usually curved
- two thin layers of compact bone
sandwiching a layer of spongy bone
between them
 Irregular bones
- bones that do not fit one of the
preceding categories
Gross Anatomy (Long Bone)
 Diaphysis or shaft: makes up most of the
bone’s length and is composed of
compact bone
 Periosteum: fibrous connective tissue
membrane that covers and protect the
diaphysis
 Perforation or Sharpey’s fibers: connective
tissue fiber that secure the periosteum to
the underlying bone
 Epiphysis: ends of the long bone that
consists of a thin layer of compact bone
enclosing an area filled with spongy bone
 Articular cartilage: a glassy hyaline
cartilage that covers the epiphysis’
external surface – provides a smooth,
slippery surface that decreases friction at
joint surfaces
 Epiphyseal line (remnant of epiphyseal
plate): thin line of the bony tissue
spanning the epiphysis that looks a bit
different from the rest of the adult bones
in that area.
 Yellow marrow or medullary cavity: cavity
of the shaft that is primarily a storage for
the adipose (fat) tissue in adults
- red marrow: forms blood cells in
infants
 Osteocytes: mature bone cells
 Lacunae: tiny cavities where osteocytes
can be found
 Lamellae: concentric circles around
central (harvesian) canals
 Harvesian canals: run lengthwise through
the bony matrix, carrying blood vessels
and nerves to all areas of the bone
 Osteon or Harvesian system: complex
consisting of central canal and matrix
rings
 Canaliculi: tiny canals that radiate outward
from the central canals to all lacunae &
form a transportation system that
connects all the bone cells to the nutrient
supply through the hard bone matrix
 Perforating (Volkmann’s) canals:
completes the communication pathway
from the outside of the bone to its interior
(and the central canals); run into the
compact bone at right angles to the shaft
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Bone Formation
Before week 8, the skeleton of a human
embryo is constructed entirely from fibrous
membranes and hyaline cartilage.
 Endochondral Ossification: a bone
develops by replacing hyaline cartilage.
The resulting bone is called a cartilage or
endochondral bone.
1. Bone collar forms around the diaphysis of the
hyaline cartilage model.
2. Cartilage in the center of the diaphysis
calcifies and then develops cavities.
3. The periosteal bud invades the internal
cavities and spongy bone forms.
4. The diaphysis elongates and a medullary
cavity forms. Secondary ossification centers
appear in the epiphyses.
5. The epiphyses ossify. When completed,
hyaline cartilage remains only in the
epiphyseal plates and articular cartilages.
 Intramembranous Ossification: a bone
develops from a fibrous membrane and
the bone is called a membrane bone.
1. Forms the cranial bones of the skull (frontal,
parietal, occipital and temporal bones) and the
clavicles
2. Most bones formed by this process are flat
bones
Hormonal Regulation of Bone Growth
-during infancy and childhood
 Growth hormone: released by the anterior
pituitary gland; single most important
stimulus of epiphyseal plate activity
 Thyroid hormones: modulate the activity of
growth hormone, ensuring that the
skeleton has proper proportions as it
grows.
-At puberty
 Testosterone and Estrogens (male and
female sex hormones, respectively):
initially these promote the growth spurt
typical of adolescence, as well as the
masculinization or feminization of specific
parts of the skeleton. Later the hormones
induce epiphyseal closure, ending
longitudinal bone growth.
Abnormal Hormonal Regulation of Bone Growth
 Gigantism: abnormal growth due to
excess in secretion of growth hormones in
the bone
 Dwarfism: deficit secretion of growth
hormones in the bone
 Acromegaly: a hormonal disorder that
develops when your pituitary gland
produces too much growth hormone
during adulthood
 Rickets: a disease of children in which the
bones fail to calcify
: Bones soften & the weight-
bearing bones of the legs show a
definite bowing
: Usually due to a lack of calcium
in the diet or lack of vitamin D
Bone Fractures
 Close or Simple fracture: fracture in which
the bone breaks cleanly but does not
penetrate the skin
 Open or Compound fracture: when the
broken ends penetrate through the skin
 Comminuted: Bone fragments into three
or more pieces.
: Particularly common in the aged,
whose bones more brittle.
 Compression: Bone is crushed.
: Common in porous bones (i.e.,
osteoporotic bones subjected to extreme
trauma, as in a fall)
 Greenstick: Bone breaks incompletely
much in the way a green twig breaks. Only
one side of the shaft break; the other side
bends.
: Common in children, whose bones
have relatively organic matrix and are
more flexible than those of adults.
 Spiral: Ragged break occurs when
excessive twisting forces are applied to a
bone.
: Common sports fracture
 Depressed: Broken bone portion is
pressed inward. Typical of skull fracture.
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How Fractures are treated?
A fracture is treated by reduction, which is the
realignment of the broken bone ends.
 Closed reduction: bone ends coaxed back
into their normal position by the
physician’s hands
 Open reduction: surgery is performed and
the bone ends are secured together with
pins or wires
Healing time for a simpler fracture is 6 to 8 weeks
1. Hematoma forms
2. Fibrocartilaginous callus forms
3. Bony callus forms
4. Bone remodeling occurs
Skull
 Cranium: encloses and protects the fragile
brain tissue
 Facial bones: hold the eyes in an anterior
position and allow the facial muscles to
show our feelings through smiles or
frowns
 Sutures: All but one of the bones of the
skull are joined together by sutures –
which are interlocking, immovable joints
 Mandible: only the mandible (jawbone) is
attached to the rest of the skull by a freely
movable joint
Cranium
 boxlike; composed of (8) eight large flat
bones
 2 parietal and temporal: paired bones
 4 single bones
Facial
 composed of (14) fourteen bones
 6 paired bones (12)
 mandible & vomer: single bones (2)
Vertebral Column (Spine)
 serving as the axial support of the body
 extends from the skull – which it supports
to the pelvis – where it transmits the
weight of the body to the power limbs
 formed the 26 irregular bones connected
and reinforced by ligaments in such a way
that a flexible, curved structured results
 before birth: consists of 33 separate
bones called vertebrae
 9 of these eventually fused to form the
two composite bones – the sacrum & the
coccyx that construct the inferior portion
of the vertebral column
 Intervertebral disc: pads of flexible
fibrocartilage that separates the individual
vertebrae
- cushion the vertebrae and absorb the
shocks while allowing the spine
flexibility
 Herniated “slipped” discs: drying of the
discs, along with a weakening of the
ligaments of the vertebral column
 Primary curvatures: spinal curvatures in
the thoracic and sacral regions
 present when we are born
 produce the C- shaped spine of the
newborn baby
 Secondary curvatures: curvatures is in the
cervical and lumbar regions
 develop sometimes after birth
 cervical curvatures appears when
a baby begins to move its head
 lumbar curvature develops when
the baby begins to walk
Disorders in Vertebral Column (Spine)
1. Scoliosis: lateral deviation of the vertebral
column. This is most commonly found in
the thoracic region
2. Kyphosis: exaggeration in the sagittal
curvature present in the thoracic part of
the vertebral column
3. Lordosis: exaggeration in the sagittal
curvature present in the lumbar region.
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a. Cranial and Facial divisions of the c. Lateral view of cranial fossae showing the
skull contained
brain regions

b. Cranial and Facial divisions of the a. Cranial and Facial divisions of the
skull skull

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a. Anterior View b. Posterior View

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(a) Anterior View

(b) Posterior View

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(c) Midsagittal section showing the internal anatomy of the left half of skull

(a) Inferior view of the skull (mandible removed)

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(a) Nasal cavity with septum in place showing the contributions of the ethmoid bone,
the vomer, and septal cartilage

(b) Anterior
aspect

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