The Skeletal System

Structure, function, and living tissue.

The adult human skeleton has 206 bones. Newborns have more; several fuse during growth. Bone is living tissue with blood supply and nerves, continually broken down and rebuilt.

Divisions

The axial skeleton is skull, vertebral column and rib cage. The appendicular skeleton is the limbs and the girdles attaching them.

Joints

Fibrous joints such as skull sutures are immovable. Cartilaginous joints allow slight movement. Synovial joints — hinge, ball-and-socket, pivot, saddle, gliding, condyloid — are freely movable and carry a fluid-filled capsule.