Appendicular Skeleton
Definition
The 126-bone system of the human limbs and their girdles: the pectoral girdle (4), upper limbs (60), pelvic girdle (2 os coxae), and lower limbs (60 including the patellae and foot bones).
- Total bones
- 126
- Pectoral girdle
- 4 bones (2 clavicles, 2 scapulae)
- Pelvic girdle
- 2 os coxae
- Upper limbs
- 60 bones including hands
- Lower limbs
- 60 bones including patellae and feet
Common questions
How does the appendicular skeleton differ from the axial skeleton?+
The axial skeleton (skull, vertebral column, ribs, sternum, 80 bones) forms the body's central axis, while the appendicular skeleton comprises the limbs and the girdles attaching them to that axis, totaling 126 bones in an adult.
Why does appendicular bone matter for forensic identification?+
Long bones of the limbs, especially the femur and humerus, give the most reliable stature estimates via regression formulae, and their epiphyseal fusion timing is a primary age-at-death indicator in subadults.
Related terms
- Axial Skeleton
- The 80-bone central structural column of the human skeleton: the skull (29 bones), the vertebral column (26 bones including sacrum and coccyx),...
- Endochondral Ossification
- The process by which bone replaces a cartilage precursor. All long bones, the vertebrae, the ribs, and the cranial base form by...
- Epiphyseal Fusion
- The obliteration of the cartilaginous growth plate and bony union of the epiphysis with the diaphysis. Fusion sequence and timing form the...
- Intramembranous Ossification
- The process by which bone forms directly from a mesenchymal membrane without a cartilage intermediate. Produces the flat bones of the skull...
- Medial Clavicle Epiphysis
- The last secondary ossification centre to fuse in the human skeleton, completing at 21 to 30 years depending on sex and population....
- Mukherjee 1955 Dataset
- Sub-adult skeletal age reference data published by P. K. Mukherjee and colleagues from AIIMS New Delhi, demonstrating that several epiphyses fuse 1...
- Primary Ossification Centre
- The initial site of bone tissue formation in a developing skeletal element. In long bones, the primary centre forms the diaphysis (shaft)...
- Scheuer-Black Framework
- The reference system for developmental skeletal age estimation published by Louise Scheuer and Sue Black in 'Developmental Juvenile Osteology' (Academic Press, 2000)....
- Secondary Ossification Centre
- An epiphysis: a discrete bony island that forms postnatally at the articular end of a long bone, separated from the diaphysis by...