LOCOMOTOR SYSTEM

Skeleton

The skeleton consists of bones and cartilages. A bone is composed of several

tissues, predominantly a specialized connective tissue that is, itself, called
“bone.” Bones provide a framework of levers, they protect organs such as
the brain and heart, their marrow forms certain blood cells, and they store
and exchange calcium and phosphate ions.

The term osteology, meaning the study of bones, is derived from the
Greek word osteon, meaning "bone." The Latin term is used in names of
specific bones, e.g., coxae, or hip bone; the adjective is osseous.

Bones

The skeleton includes the axial skeleton (bones of the head, neck, and
trunk) and the appendicular skeleton (bones of the limbs). Bone may be
present in locations other than in the bony skeleton. It often replaces the
hyaline cartilage in parts of the laryngeal cartilages. Furthermore, it is
sometimes formed in soft tissues, such as scars. Bone that forms where it is
not normally present is called heterotopic bone.

Types:

Bones may be classified according to shape: long, short, flat, and irregular.

Long bones are those in which the length exceeds the breadth and
thickness. They include the clavicle, humerus, radius, ulna, femur, tibia,
and fibula, and also the metacarpals, metatarsals, and phalanges.

Short bones.

Short bones occur in the hands and feet and consist of spongy bone and
marrow enclosed by a thin layer of compact bone. They are surrounded by
periosteum, except on their articular surfaces.
Sesamoid bones.

Sesamoid bones are a type of short bone embedded within tendons or joint
capsules. These occur mainly in the hands and feet, although the patella
represents a particularly large example of a sesamoid bone. They vary in
size and number.

Accessory bones.

Accessory, or supernumerary, bones are bones that are not regularly

present. They occur chiefly in the hands and feet. They include some
sesamoid bones and certain united epiphyses in the adult.

Flat bones.

Flat bones include the ribs, sternum, scapulae, lateral part of the clavicle,
and many bones of the skull. They consist of two layers of compact bone
with intervening spongy bone and marrow.

Irregular Bones.

Irregular bones are those that do not readily fit into other groups. They
include many of the skull bones, the vertebrae, and the hip bones.

Contours and markings

The shafts of long bones usually have three surfaces, separated from one
another by three borders. The articular surfaces are smooth, even after
articular cartilage is removed, as in a dried bone. A projecting articular
process is often referred to as a head, its narrowed attachment to the rest of
the bone as the neck.

Bone marrow

Before birth, the medullary cavities of bones, as well as the spaces between
trabeculae, are filled with red marrow, which produces red blood corpuscles
and to certain white blood cells (granulocytes). From infancy onward there
is both a progressive diminution in the amount of blood cell-forming
marrow and a progressive increase in the amount of fat (yellow marrow).

Development and growth

All bones begin as mesenchymal proliferations that appear early in the

embryonic period. In membrane bones (comprising the clavicle, mandible,
and certain skull bones), the cells differentiate into osteoblasts that lay
down an organic matrix called osteoid.

Skeletal Maturation Periods.

The following arbitrary periods are convenient:

1. Embryonic period proper. This comprises the first eight

postovulatory weeks of development. The clavicle, mandible, maxilla,
hummers, radius, ulna, femur, and tibia commence to ossify during the
last two weeks of this period.
2. Fetal period. This begins at eight postovulatory weeks, when the
crown-rump length has reached about 30 mm. The following elements
commence to ossify early in the fetal period or sometimes late in the
embryonic period: scapula, ilium, fibula, distal phalanges of the hand,
and certain cranial bones (e.g., the frontal).
3. Childhood. The period from birth to puberty includes infancy (i.e., the
first one or two postnatal years). Most epiphyses in the limbs, together
with the carpals, tarsals, and sesamoids, begin to ossify during
childhood. Ossification centers generally appear one or two years
earlier in girls than in boys. 
4. Adolescence. This includes puberty and the period from puberty to
adulthood. Puberty usually occurs at 13+/-2 years of age in girls, and
two years later in boys. Most of the secondary centers for the vertebrae,
ribs, clavicle, scapula, and hip bone begin to ossify during adolescence.
5. Adulthood. The hummers serves as a skeletal criterion for the
transitions into adolescence and into adulthood, in that its distal
epiphysis is the first of those of the long bones to unite, and its proximal
epiphysis is the last (at age 19 or later). The center for the iliac crest
fuses in early adulthood (age 21 to 23). The sutures of the vault of the
skull commence to close at about the same time (from age 22 onward).