All 206 bones in the human body, region by region

An adult human skeleton is usually counted as 206 bones. That number is a convention anatomists agree on, and it hides a lot of variety: tiny ear bones smaller than a grain of rice, a thigh bone that can carry many times your body weight, and two hands and two feet that together hold more than half of all your bones. This guide lists every one of the 206, region by region, with tables you can scan or print.

The 206 bones at a glance

Anatomists split the skeleton into two divisions. The axial skeleton runs down the middle of the body and protects the brain, spinal cord, heart and lungs. The appendicular skeleton is everything attached to that central column: the shoulders, arms, hips and legs.

The axial skeleton holds 80 bones and the appendicular skeleton holds 126. Add them together and you get 206.

Want to see each bone in place? Open the interactive 206-bone explorer and click through the skeleton region by region as you read.

The skull: 22 bones

The skull is not one bone but 22, locked together by wavy seams called sutures. Only one of them, the lower jaw, moves freely. The skull divides into the cranium, which forms a protective vault around the brain, and the facial skeleton, which shapes the face and holds the teeth, eyes and nasal passages.

Cranial bones (8)

Facial bones (14)

Ear bones and the hyoid: 7 bones

Inside each temporal bone sits a chain of three auditory ossicles. They pass sound vibrations from the eardrum to the inner ear, amplifying them along the way. With three in each ear, they add six bones to the total.

• Malleus (hammer) — 2, attached to the eardrum
• Incus (anvil) — 2, the middle link
• Stapes (stirrup) — 2, pressed against the inner ear

The hyoid is a single U-shaped bone in the upper neck, just above the larynx. It is unusual because it does not form a joint with any other bone. Instead, it hangs in place by muscles and ligaments and anchors the tongue and the muscles used in swallowing.

The vertebral column: 26 bones

The spine protects the spinal cord, supports the head and lets the trunk bend and twist. In adults it is counted as 26 bones: 24 separate vertebrae plus the sacrum and the coccyx, each of which forms from several smaller vertebrae that fuse over time.

The fusion of the sacral segments begins around puberty and is generally finished somewhere between the mid-20s and about age 30. Our guide on why babies have more bones than adults explains how that fusion works.

The thoracic cage: 25 bones

The rib cage wraps around the heart and lungs and moves with every breath. It is made of the sternum (breastbone) at the front and 12 pairs of ribs that curve around from the thoracic vertebrae.

That brings the axial skeleton to 22 + 6 + 1 + 26 + 25 = 80 bones.

Shoulders, arms and hands: 64 bones

The appendicular skeleton begins with the pectoral girdles, which connect the arms to the trunk. Each side has a clavicle (collarbone) and a scapula (shoulder blade), so the two girdles contribute four bones. The shoulder girdle trades stability for range of motion, which is why the shoulder can move in so many directions.

Each upper limb then has 30 bones: the humerus in the upper arm, the radius and ulna in the forearm, 8 carpals in the wrist, 5 metacarpals in the palm and 14 phalanges in the fingers. The thumb has two phalanges and each other finger has three.

The carpals sit in two rows of four. Students often remember them, from the thumb side of the first row around to the thumb side of the second, with the phrase So Long To Pinky, Here Comes The Thumb.

Hips, legs and feet: 62 bones

The pelvic girdle is made of two hip bones (also called coxal bones). Each one starts as three separate bones, the ilium, ischium and pubis, which fuse during adolescence into a single bone with a deep socket for the femur. Together with the sacrum, the hip bones form the pelvis.

Each lower limb, like each upper limb, has 30 bones: the femur, the patella (kneecap), the tibia and fibula in the lower leg, 7 tarsals in the ankle and heel, 5 metatarsals in the foot and 14 phalanges in the toes.

So the appendicular skeleton totals 4 + 60 + 2 + 60 = 126 bones, and the full skeleton totals 80 + 126 = 206.

The five bone shape types

Besides grouping bones by region, anatomists sort them by shape, because shape tells you a lot about a bone's job. Many textbooks list four main types and treat sesamoid bones as a fifth.

• Long bones are longer than they are wide and act as levers: femur, tibia, fibula, humerus, radius, ulna, metacarpals, metatarsals and phalanges.
• Short bones are roughly cube-shaped and offer stability with some gliding motion: the carpals and tarsals.
• Flat bones are thin and often curved, providing protection and broad areas for muscle attachment: cranial bones, scapulae, sternum and ribs.
• Irregular bones have complex shapes that fit no other group: the vertebrae, hip bones and many facial bones.
• Sesamoid bones are small, rounded bones that form inside tendons where they cross a joint under pressure. The patella is the only sesamoid bone everyone has and the only one in the standard count.

Why your count might not be exactly 206

The number 206 describes a typical adult skeleton, not every skeleton. Real people vary, and some reputable sources put the adult range at roughly 206 to 213 bones. The main reasons are:

• Extra sesamoid bones. Many people have small sesamoids near the base of the big toe, in the thumb or elsewhere in the hands and feet. These are normal but are left out of the standard total.
• Sutural (Wormian) bones. Small extra bones sometimes form within the sutures of the skull, especially toward the back of the head.
• Accessory bones. Some people have extra small bones in the foot or ankle that never fused with a neighbor during development.
• Ribs and vertebrae. A minority of people have an extra rib, often a small one in the neck, or one more or one fewer vertebra in the lower spine.
• Fusion differences. The coccyx may have three, four or five segments, and the degree of fusion varies from person to person.
• Age. Children have many more separate bony pieces that have not yet fused. That is the topic of our guide on why babies have more bones.

Quick facts about the 206

• The hands and wrists contain 54 bones and the feet and ankles contain 52, so together they account for 106 of the 206.
• The skull's 22 bones include just one that moves freely: the mandible.
• The hyoid is the only bone that does not form a joint with another bone.
• Each arm and each leg has exactly 30 bones.
• The number 206 is so closely tied to anatomy that it gives this site its name. Read what 206 means for the full story.

Ready to test yourself? Try the bone quiz and flashcards, or explore each region with the bone explorer.

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