LOCOMOTIOM & THE HUMAN

SKELETAL SYSTEM
Sonshine Secondary School
Ms. Namonje
 DEFINATIONS
• Locomotion refers to movement of an entire organism from one place to
another.
• Only animals can carry out locomotion.
• Other types of organisms such as trees can only move parts of their bodies
while remaining fixed.
• Locomotion in animals is done with the help of skeletons and muscles.
• A skeleton is any firm structure that gives mechanical support to the body
and provides protection to the softer parts of the body.
 FUNCTIONS OF THE HUMAN
SKELETON
1. Protection: -Skull protect the brain and eyes;
-Rib cage and breast bone protect the heart and lungs;
-Vertebrae of vertebral column protect the spinal cord;
-Neck vertebrae protect blood vessels to and from the head.

2. Support:-Skeleton gives framework to the body;

-Provides attachment for muscles and body organs.
- Provides support for the soft tissues of the body without which the body would collapse and crumble.

3. Locomotion:-movement of the body resulting in a change of position of the whole body.

- Pelvic girdle fused to vertebral column gives firm center for movement.
-With muscles, jointed limbs move at the girdles to allow for locomotion;
-System of levers allows movement such as body’s ability to bend, turn and twist.

4. Blood formation:- Red bone marrow at heads of long bones and some other bones produce red blood cells and phagocytes.

5. Feeding: - Lower jaw raised and lowered by muscles for eating with the teeth.

6. Storage: -bones and teeth are made of calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate. Therefore, bones store calcium salts.

7. Body shape: - the skull gives shape to the face and the whole head.

8. Breathing:- the rib cage moves by increasing and decreasing the thoracic cavity causing air to move in and out of the lungs.

9. Transmission of sound:- sound is transmitted by the ear ossicles as they vibrate in the middle ear enhancing hearing
 TYPES OF SKELETONS
• There are three types of skeletons in multicellular organisms. These are;
1. Hydrostatic skeletons,
2. Exoskeletons
3. Endoskeletons.
• Hydrostatic Skeleton :This is a type of skeleton made of watery fluids found inside the body of an organism. It consists of layers of
muscles around a fluid-filled body cavity called a coelom
- These watery fluids offer mechanical support and help in movement. The fluid pushes outward against
the body wall, helping maintain the animal’s shape. When the muscle in the body wall contracts, the fluid
is forced into other regions of the animal’s body causing it to change shape. This process enables an animal
with a hydrostatic skeleton to move. During locomotion in an earthworm, the circular and longitudinal muscles contract in turns to
produce peristaltic waves along the body, beginning at the front end and working backwards.
- This type of skeleton occurs in soft-bodied invertebrates such as
i. earthworms ii. Slugs iii. Snails Jelly fish
ii. Hydra iv. Sea anemones v. velvet worms
• Water has three important characteristics that make it suitable to act as a skeleton.
 It is relatively incompressible (cannot be easily compressed)
 It can transmit pressure changes equally in all directions
 It takes up the shape of its container
•
.
Exoskeleton: This is a type of skeleton located outside the muscles of the body of an organism
• - It occurs in all arthropods ,including
• 1. Class crustaceans (crabs, squids, shrimps, lobsters)
• 2. Class insects (cockroaches, butterflies, grasshoppers, flies)
• 3. Class myriapods (centipedes, millipedes)
• 4. Class arachnids ( spiders, scorpions, tick, mites)
• In insects, this skeleton is also known as the cuticle and is largely made of a polysaccharide called chitin covered with small
amounts of wax outside.
• Exoskeletons have one major disadvantage: They cannot keep growing once they have been formed. For this reason, as an
arthropod grows it must periodically molt, or shed its exoskeleton, growing a new, larger version in its place, (molting).
• The cuticle is made of a waxy thin outer layer called the epicuticle and an inner layer of chitin called the procuticle.
• The procuticle is made of two layers called exocuticle and endocuticle.
• An endoskeleton is located inside the body of an organism and is made of bones and cartilage.
• Vertebrates are the only animals that have internal skeletons made of bone.
• Bone is a living tissue that grows in step with the rest of the body.
• This type of skeleton is found in all vertebrates icluding
1. Class pisces (fish)
• 2. Class amphibians (frogs, toads, salamander, newts)
• 3. Class reptilia (snakes, crocodiles, lizards, turtles, dinosaur)
• 4. Class aves (birds)
• 5. Class mammalia ( Omnivores-e.g humans, Carnivores- e.g lions, Herbivores-e.g cows).
• The endoskeleton of a vertebrate foetus is largely made up of cartilage while that of an adult is made of
bones with small amounts of cartilage in areas that need flexibility. However, some adult vertebrates have
entire skeletons made of cartilage e.g. cartilaginous fish such as sharks.
• The most primitive exoskeleton is the notochord (phylum Chordata) which is a backbone of cartilage
occurring in fishes. Animals higher than fishes on the evolutionary scale have an axial skeleton and an
appendicular skeleton in others.
 CARTILAGE & BONE
• Cartilage is a firm and flexible rubber-like tissue which is made of living cells and collagen fibres embedded in a matrix of
chondrin.
• Cartilage is found in firm but flexible parts of the vertebrate body such as
i. the trachea ii. Ear lobes iii. larynx
iv. the nose iv at the ends of bones.
Functions of cartilage
• It is found between the vertebrae in the spine, allowing bending of the spine.
• It is found in the trachea and allows it to remain open even when the neck bends
• It is found in the pinna and the end of the nose and helps keep them firm.
• It is found at the ends of bones at the joints, where it reduces friction, cushions the ends of bones and bears loads.
• It is the main skeletal material of vertebrate embryos
Types of cartilage
• Fibro cartilage: found between vertebrae and in front of the pubic bones.
• Elastic cartilage: found in the pinna or external ear, larynx and nasal septum and contains yellow elastic fibres – hence it is
more flexible.
• Hyaline cartilage: found at the ends of bones, in the trachea, bronchi and the flexible parts of the ribs. It is a glossy, bluish white
flexible material with a jelly like matrix containing spaces with cartilage – producing cells.
• Bone is a tissue made of living cells and collagen fibres and mineral salts of calcium phosphate and magnesium
salts.
• collagen fibres are proteins which give bone its elasticity. Bone is considered to be a living tisuue because it
contains living cells, which are supplied with food and oxygen by blood vessels.
• The living cells occur in structures known as lacunae (singular=lacuna). The matrix is laid up in several concentric
rings forming a system known as the Haversian system. The lacunae are linked to each other by channels of
cytoplasm known as canaliculi (singular=canaliculus). The central space of the Haversian system is called the
haversian canal and contains blood vessels, nerves and lymphatic vessels. A transverse extension from the
haversian canal called the Volkmann canal links it to the bone marrow.
• The long bones of a vertebrate have spongy bone at the ends and compact bone in the shaft. Compact bone is
made of a lot of haversian systems grouped together.
THE HUMAN SKELETON
 THE AXIAL AND APPENDICULAR SKELETON
• The human skeleton is divided into two regions, namely
• 1. Axial skeleton (made up of the skull, vertebral column/spine, ribs and sternum)
• 2. Appendicular skeleton (made up of the limbs-forelimbs/ Hindlimbs and girdles-Pectorial girdle/pelvic girdle)
• - The fore limbs are the 2 arms
• - The hind limbs are the two legs.
• - The girdles form a link between the axial skeleton and the limbs. There are two girdles, namely, the pectoral girdle and the pelvic girdle.
 The pectoral girdle links the fore limbs to the axial skeleton. It is made of the scapular (shoulder blade) clavicles (collar bone). The
 The pelvic girdle links the hind limbs to the axial skeleton. It is also called the pelvis and is made of the pubis, ilium and ischium, among other bones
 1-THE SKULL/CRANIUM
• The Cranium; is the bone box which contains and protects the brain.
• The cranium consists of ;
-1 frontal bone, which forms the forehead and roof of the cranium.
-2 parietal bones; which form the sides and top of the skull.
-2 temporal bones; which lie on each side of the skull.
-1 occipital bone; which forms the back and part of the base of the skull.
- 1 sphenoid bone; which has a shape of a bat with its wings out stretched
and it occupies the middle portion of the base of the skull.
-maxilla, mandible, nasal bone, zygomatic bone.
2-THE SPINE/VERTEBRAL COLUMN
 2-THE SPINE/VERTEBRAL COLUMN
• The functions of vertebral column are:
1. Protecting the spinal cord from mechanical damage
2. Providing attachment for ribs and girdles
3. Supporting the body trunk
4. Imparting flexibility to the body trunk due presence of cartilaginous joints

• The bones that make up the vertebral column (spine) are called vertebrae (singular=vertebra).
• Their names, structures and numbers vary depending on the region of the spine in which they occur. The following table gives the
names, locations and numbers of different vertebrae in the human being.

• The first cervical vertebrae is called the Atlas, Atlas articulates with skull to allow nodding (‘Yes’) movements of the head. It has a large
neural canal but does not have a centrum. It has a small and reduced neural spine but large cervical ribs.
• The second cervical vertebral is called the Axis, Axis articulates with atlas to allow side-to-side (‘No’) / rotational movements of the
head. The axis differs from the atlas in that it has a large projecting centrum known as the odontoid process.
 Structure and functions of the parts of a vertebra

• Neural spine: This is a projection on top of the neural arch that provides a surface for attachment of muscles and ligaments
• Neural arch: This is a curved bony structure arising from the centrum and has an opening in the centre called the neural canal. The
neural arch protects the spinal cord
• Neural canal is the passage for the spinal cord.
• Transverse process: These are projections on the sides of the centrum that provide surfaces for attachment of muscles and ligaments.
• Centrum: This is the solid central part of the vertebra whose function is to bind to the intervertebral disc and form a cartilaginous joint
with the next vertebra
3-THE APPENDICULAR SKELETON
 The Pectoral/Shoulder girdle and upper limbs
• Pectoral Girdle, also called shoulder girdle, is the system of bones that supports the paired front appendages in vertebrate
(backboned) animals.
• In humans the pectoral girdle consists, on each side, of a clavicle (collarbone) and a scapula (shoulder blade).
• The clavicles form the front of the pectoral girdle.
• The scapula is a triangular bone embedded in muscles
• Each shoulder girdle consists of the following bones
• - 1 scapula, 1 clavicle. Each upper limb consists of;
• - 1 humerus, 1 ulna, 1 radius, 8 carpal bones, five metacarpal bones, 14 phalanges.
 The pelvic girdle and lower limbs
• The pelvic girdle or hip girdle supports and protects many organs.
• It is made up of three bones fused together on each side. It is made up of two halves which lie on either side of the
vertebral column. Each half is composed of three bones; the ilium, ischium and pubis.
• The ilium (also called hip bone) is the largest of the three bones. It has a cavity (socket) known as the acetabulum
into which the head (also called the ball) of the femur bone fits to form the hip joint.
• The sacrum joins the pelvic girdle at the back.
• In females, the pelvis bones form a larger pelvic cavity which is important for the birth process. During child birth
the pelvic girdle moves slightly to increase the cavity. The pubic arch is wider in females than in males.
• The bones of the lower extremity are; -Femur
-Tibia
-Fibular
-Patellar
-Tarsal bones (7)
-Metatarsal(5)
-Phalanges(14)