How Many Bones Are There in a Human?
In anatomy laboratories and classrooms across the world, a familiar teaching tool includes a stand supporting a human skeleton, the largest organ system in the human body. While the majority of the bones are wired together to form a model for study, not all of the bones are included in the display, so it is not possible to get an accurate count of the number of bones in a human by analyzing this type of model. Also, the total number of bones differs depending upon the age of the human.
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Bone Counts
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There are 206 bones in an adult human. Newborn babies have 300 bones; the total is higher in infants because many of their bones have not fused together yet.
Location
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Half of the total number of bones in a human are located in the hands and feet, but not all humans have the same number of these bones. These variations can be caused by genetic mutations or development of tiny sesamoid bones at points of extreme tendon stress. Each foot contains 26 bones, not counting two tiny sesamoid bones.
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Size
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The smallest bone in the human body is the stapes or "stirrup," one of the three tiny bones of the middle ear. The stirrup transmits sounds to the cochlea. The femur (thigh bone or upper leg bone) is the largest bone in the human body, both in size and weight.
Uniqueness
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The only bone in the human body that is not connected to another bone is the hyoid at the base of the tongue. It supports the tongue and the tongue's muscles.
Exceptions
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While most humans have 206 bones, a small number of people have an extra rib.
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