Bones vary in shape and size depending on the type of animal to which they belong. Fish and small birds have small bones.
The elephant has bones that are difficult few hundred pounds!
Bone composition
All the bones are of similar composition.Bone is hard, grey-white color and two-thirds of bone tissue are inorganic or mineral substances, especially lime phosphate.
This gives the bone its hardness, but at the same time makes them brittle.
The remaining third of the bone makes organic matter. It gives bone strength and resistance to fracture. The center of the bone is spongy and filled with bone marrow.
Some of bone marrow fat is stored in the second part and the core creates blood cells. In the bones there is a small amount of water, which, with the aging of the body, gradually disappears.
With less water in the bones, greater is the amount of minerals, causing bones to become brittle and break after slowly coming together.
Interesting Facts About Bones
- Humans have about 300 bones when born. Some of these, fuse together creating a single bone. When maturity is reached, humans have 206 bones in the body.
- The teeth are not counted as bones.
- The greatest bone in the body, “the femur”, is around 1/4 of the persons height.
- The smallest bone in the body is the stapes (stirrup) located in the middle ear, with size around 1/10 of an inch (2.8 millimetres).
- The only bone which is full-grown at birth is the stapes bone, and is situated in the ear.
- Hand, fingers and wrist make the area of the body with most bones - 54.
- The bones of an adult person make approximately 14 % of the total body weight.
- The bones are made of approximately 75 % of water
- Human bones start to grow from birth, until mid 20's.
- Broken bones re-grow and repair themselves.
- The human skeletal system has six major functions: 1. production of blood cells, 2. support, 3. movement, 4. protection, 5. storage of ions and 6. endocrine regulation.
- The Bone marrow makes up 4% of a human body mass.
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