HUMAN SKELETON 206 BONES

At birth the human body has about 350 bones, but by the time adulthood rolls around, some of our bones have fused together to give us a total of 206 bones in our body!

Here is the breakdown:

The adult skeleton consists of 206 bones . . .

- 28 skull bones (8 cranial, 14 facial, and 6 ear bones);

- the horseshoe-shaped hyoid bone of the neck;

- 26 vertebrae (7 cervical or neck, 12 thorax, 5 lumbar or loins, the sacrum which is five fused vertebrae, and the coccyx, our vestigial tail, which is four fused vertebrae);

- 24 ribs plus the sternum or breastbone; the shoulder girdle (2 clavicles, the most frequently fractured bone in the body, and 2 scapulae);

- the pelvic girdle (2 fused bones);

- 30 bones in our arms and legs (a total of 120);

- There are also a few partial bones, ranging from 8-18 in number, which are related to joints.

Basically, there are 7 vertebrae and the hyoid bone in the neck.