Bone

For other uses, see Bone (disambiguation). "Bones" redirects here. For other uses, see Bones (disambiguation).

Bone
A bone dating from the Pleistocene Ice Age of an extinct species of elephant
A scanning electronic micrograph of bone at 10,000× magnification
Identifiers
MeSHD001842
TA98A02.0.00.000
TA2366, 377
THH3.01.00.0.00001
FMA5018
Anatomical terminology

A bone is a rigid organ[1] that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, and enable mobility. Bones come in a variety of shapes and sizes and have complex internal and external structures.[2] They are lightweight yet strong and hard and serve multiple functions.

Bone tissue (osseous tissue), which is also called bone in the uncountable sense of that word, is hard tissue, a type of specialised connective tissue. It has a honeycomb-like matrix internally, which helps to give the bone rigidity. Bone tissue is made up of different types of bone cells. Osteoblasts and osteocytes are involved in the formation and mineralisation of bone; osteoclasts are involved in the resorption of bone tissue. Modified (flattened) osteoblasts become the lining cells that form a protective layer on the bone surface. The mineralised matrix of bone tissue has an organic component of mainly collagen called ossein and an inorganic component of bone mineral made up of various salts. Bone tissue is mineralized tissue of two types, cortical bone and cancellous bone. Other types of tissue found in bones include bone marrow, endosteum, periosteum, nerves, blood vessels and cartilage.

In the human body at birth, approximately 300 bones are present. Many of these fuse together during development, leaving a total of 206 separate bones in the adult, not counting numerous small sesamoid bones.[3][4] The largest bone in the body is the femur or thigh-bone, and the smallest is the stapes in the middle ear.

The Greek word for bone is ὀστέον ("osteon"), hence the many terms that use it as a prefix—such as osteopathy. In anatomical terminology, including the Terminologia Anatomica international standard, the word for a bone is os (for example, os breve, os longum, os sesamoideum).

  1. ^ Lee C (January 2001). The Bone Organ System: Form and Function. Academic Press. pp. 3–20. doi:10.1016/B978-012470862-4/50002-7. ISBN 9780124708624. Retrieved 30 January 2022 – via Science Direct.
  2. ^ de Buffrénil V, de Ricqlès AJ, Zylberberg L, Padian K, Laurin M, Quilhac A (2021). Vertebrate skeletal histology and paleohistology (First ed.). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. pp. xii + 825. ISBN 978-1351189576.
  3. ^ Steele DG, Bramblett CA (1988). The Anatomy and Biology of the Human Skeleton. Texas A&M University Press. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-89096-300-5.
  4. ^ Mammal anatomy: an illustrated guide. New York: Marshall Cavendish. 2010. p. 129. ISBN 9780761478829.