Classification of Bones

Only available on StudyMode
  • Download(s) : 151
  • Published : November 3, 2010
Open Document
Text Preview
Bone Breakdown

Before taking a human anatomy and physiology class people think of a bone as a simple structural part of the body. When in reality bones are very complex and can be classified into multiple groups. The many groups they are classified into are their shapes. There are four main shapes of bones to be classified as; long, short, flat, and irregular.

All these classifications are especially different but two of them are somewhat similar; being the long and short bones. The long bone is not classified by its shape it is base on length and width. For a bone to be a long bone the length has to be greater than its width; they also have a shaft and two ends as well. Long bones include all limb bones except the patella and the wrist and ankle bones. Notice that long bones are determined by there elongated shape and not there over all size.

For the short bone it has a bit of a different shape it is more cube like. These types of bones are found in places such as your wrists, ankles, and your patella is also included in the short bones. The patella is considered a sesamoid bone because of its shape and where it is placed. It is found in the tendon and looks like a sesame seed. This sesamoid bone varies in size and is used to pull the tendon in the correct direction.

Flat bones are extremely different from each other but they all have the same thickness of bone. These bones thin, flattened, and usually are a bit curved in shape. Flat bones are bones such as; the sternum, scapulae (shoulder blades), ribs, and most of the skull bones as well. For irregular bone they have a complicated shape that doesn’t fit into any other classification. The bones for this classification are the vertebrae and the hip bones.

Classifying bones doesn’t seem possible for some bones but all bones fit into some group of the classifying bones. Every bone will fit into one of the four groups of bones; long, short, flat, or irregular. Everyone should learn about the human body...
tracking img