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Asked by anon-283654 on 28 Feb 2021. This question was also asked by anon-286717, anon-287804.
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Karen Burstow answered on 28 Feb 2021:
You have around 270 bones as a baby and as you grow some of these fuse together, so adult humans have ~206 bones. I must admit I did have to google this! But in my current job, I sometimes analyse samples of animal bone, which have been found in a food product by a customer. I can identify them as bone by looking at the structure of the material using a light microscope and analysing the elements present (looking for calcium and phosphorus).
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Chris Waller answered on 28 Feb 2021:
This is an interesting question as the answer changes depending on how old you are. Adults generally have around ~206 bones, but babies and children have more. As you grow up, some of these smaller bones fuse together so the overall number of bones in your body actually goes down over time.
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Anna Westland answered on 28 Feb 2021:
There are 206 bones in an adult human’s body – but when you were born you had around 300 bones! These extra bones don’t disappear, once your bones have finished growing they join together.
In just the skull an adult has 22 bones! (plus 3 bones in each ear)
The way that bones fuse (join) together as we grow is really useful when studying skeletons. You can see which bones have already fused together and from that work out how old an individual was.
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Jo Brodie answered on 28 Feb 2021:
Hello ElliotTT
I can see that everyone’s already answered ‘how many?’ question (I didn’t know the number off the top of my head either and would have had to search for the answer) but I thought I’d add something about how active and alive our bones are, even though skeletons might not seem very active.
As part of our normal wear and tear older bone tissue is broken down by cells called osteoclasts, and new bone tissue is built by cells called osteoblasts. This process happens throughout life until we reach adulthood but as we get older we start to lose more bone tissue than we replace. Some older people can suffer from osteoporosis (when the bones become thinner and can break more easily). The NHS has some advice on how to prevent osteoporosis https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/osteoporosis/prevention/
Jo
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Lizzie Pendlington answered on 5 Mar 2021:
It look likes you have already got some great answers for your question so I thought I would reply with a cool fact about bones – the density of your bones (so how thick they are) can depend on how much use they get. So tennis players tend to have thicker bones in the arm they use to play tennis!
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Claire Price answered on 6 Mar 2021:
There are already some great answers here so I will give you some bone facts instead!
There are 26 bones in the human foot. Did you realise the foot was so complex? No wonder footballers keep breaking bones in their feet!
But there are more bones in the human hand. In fact, the human hand, including the wrist, contains 54 bones! No wonder we can do such amazing things with our hands, like type on a keyboard or write!
Bones function as the skeleton of the human body. They allow body parts to move and protect organs from impact damage. They also produce red and white blood cells. Did you know bone could do so much?
Comments
Jess commented on :
Great question! As these guys have said, adults have 206 bones.
Fun fact: The collagen in bone constantly replenishes itself. So every 7-10 years, you have a new skeleton!
Manasa commented on :
Good Morning Elliot,
Another fun fact: one of the 206 bones we remain with as adults, is also vestigial, meaning that it has lost its primary function through evolution (though it still has some secondary functions for muscles to hold on to it). It is the tailbone or coccyx which is at the end of our spine. It was needed for balance when our ancestors hopped around on trees. Obviuosly, we do not need it not now anymore? 😛
anon-283652 commented on :
Why did you want to become a scientist.