Bones of the Body Flashcards
The everyday name on the front, the anatomical name and a key fact on the back: collarbone → clavicle, shinbone → tibia. 38 cards for students, nursing prep and the curious.
Keyboard: space to flip · 1 = again · 2 = got it
Come back tomorrow and the cards you missed will come up first.
About these cards
An adult skeleton has 206 bones. You don’t need all of them to understand your body; these cards cover the major bones grouped by region, from the cranium to the calcaneus, plus the facts people most often get asked.
All 38 cards
| Front | Back |
|---|---|
| Skull: the braincase | Cranium · 8 bones that protect the brain |
| Lower jaw | Mandible · the only skull bone that moves (it hinges at the jaw joint) |
| Upper jaw | Maxilla · holds the upper teeth and forms part of the eye socket and nose |
| Cheekbone | Zygomatic bone · forms the prominence of the cheek |
| U-shaped bone in the front of the neck | Hyoid · the only bone not joined to another bone; anchors the tongue |
| Smallest bone in the body | Stapes (stirrup) · in the middle ear, about 3 mm long |
| Three tiny bones of the middle ear | Malleus (hammer), incus (anvil), stapes (stirrup) · pass sound vibrations to the inner ear |
| Neck vertebrae | Cervical vertebrae · 7 bones (C1–C7) |
| Top vertebra that holds up the skull | Atlas (C1) · lets you nod 'yes' |
| Second neck vertebra | Axis (C2) · its peg lets you turn your head 'no' |
| Upper and mid-back vertebrae | Thoracic vertebrae · 12 bones (T1–T12), each joined to a pair of ribs |
| Lower-back vertebrae | Lumbar vertebrae · 5 large bones (L1–L5) that carry most of your weight |
| Triangle-shaped bone at the base of the spine | Sacrum · 5 vertebrae fused together, joins the pelvis |
| Tailbone | Coccyx · 3–5 small fused vertebrae |
| Breastbone | Sternum · flat bone in the middle of the chest where most ribs attach |
| Ribs | 12 pairs · 7 'true' ribs attach to the sternum, 3 'false' ribs attach indirectly, 2 'floating' ribs don't attach at the front |
| Collarbone | Clavicle · connects the arm to the body; one of the most commonly broken bones |
| Shoulder blade | Scapula · flat triangular bone on the back of the shoulder |
| Upper arm bone | Humerus · runs from shoulder to elbow (the 'funny bone' is actually the ulnar nerve here) |
| Forearm bone on the thumb side | Radius · rotates around the ulna so you can turn your palm up and down |
| Forearm bone on the little-finger side | Ulna · forms the point of the elbow |
| Wrist bones | Carpals · 8 small bones in two rows |
| Bones of the palm | Metacarpals · 5 bones, one leading to each finger |
| Finger bones | Phalanges · 14 in each hand (2 in the thumb, 3 in each finger) |
| Hip bone | Hip bone (os coxae) · 3 bones fused together: ilium, ischium and pubis |
| The bone you sit on | Ischium · the lower, back part of the hip bone |
| Thigh bone | Femur · the longest and strongest bone in the body |
| Kneecap | Patella · the largest sesamoid bone (a bone that sits inside a tendon) |
| Shinbone | Tibia · the large weight-bearing bone of the lower leg |
| Thin bone on the outside of the lower leg | Fibula · supports the ankle and anchors muscles |
| Ankle and back-of-foot bones | Tarsals · 7 bones |
| Heel bone | Calcaneus · the largest tarsal bone |
| Ankle bone that connects the leg to the foot | Talus · sits between the tibia/fibula and the heel bone |
| Long bones of the foot | Metatarsals · 5 bones |
| Toe bones | Phalanges · 14 in each foot |
| How many bones does an adult have? | 206 · a newborn has around 270–300, many of which fuse as they grow |
| Where are more than half of your bones? | Hands and feet · 27 in each hand (with the wrist) and 26 in each foot = 106 |
| Longest bone in the body | Femur (thigh bone) |
How to import into Anki or Quizlet
Anki: download the .txt file, then in Anki choose File › Import. It is tab-separated; the first field becomes the front and the second the back.
Quizlet: create a set, choose Import, and paste the contents of the .txt file. Set “Between term and definition” to Tab and “Between rows” to New line.
Questions
How many bones are in the human body?
An adult has 206 bones. Babies are born with roughly 270–300, and many fuse together during growth.
What is the largest bone in the body?
The femur (thigh bone) is the longest and strongest bone.
What is the smallest bone in the body?
The stapes, one of the three tiny bones in the middle ear.