Page 272 - New Medley 5 Semester 1

Parts of the Skeleton

Our skeleton has five main parts. These are skull, backbone, ribs, limbs and girdles.

Skull
The skull is made up of eight flat bones. Most of these bones are

locked together like a jigsaw puzzle. The main functions of the skull
are to protect the brain, give shape to the face, give protection to

the eyes, the tongue and inner ears. The eyes fit in the eye sockets.

Our facial region has fourteen bones. The lower jaw is the only
movable joint of the skull. This enables us to speak and chew food. Human skull

Backbone or Vertebral Column

The backbone or vertebral column is made up of 33 small ring-like
bones called vertebrae. It runs from the base of the skull up to
the hip region. A type of tissue called cartilage is present between

most of the vertebrae. Cartilage cushions the bones and acts as a Vertebrae
shock absorber. The vertebral column encloses and protects the
spinal cord. Out of 33 vertebrae, the top seven are present in the
neck region. The last 5 vertebrae together form the tail bone.

Ribs Vertebral column

Ribs are long and curved bones. They form a kind of
enclosure called the ribcage. There are 12 pairs of ribs in

our body. They all are connected to the vertebral column Sternum
at the back. On the front side, ten of these rib pairs are

connected to the breastbone called the sternum. The
sternum is a flat bone in the middle of the chest. The

last two pairs of ribs are not joined to the breast bone.
These are called floating ribs. The ribcage protects the Ribcage

heart and lungs.

Limbs and Girdles

The arms and legs are commonly called the limbs. The arms are called forelimbs.
Each forelimb has three bones. The upper arm has one bone called humerus. The

lower arm has two bones called radius and ulna. The upper end of humerus is
connected to the pectoral girdle. The lower ends of radius and ulna are connected

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