Identification of different types of bones from animal skeletons (classification of bone)
Hello and welcome again. Hope you are doing well and have already completed the terminology you should know before learning veterinary anatomy.
Today I will discuss identifying different types of bones from animal skeletons (classification of bone). If you want to learn and identify different types of bones from animal skeletons (classification of bone), you may continue.
Types of bones (classification of bone)
We need to identify the following types of bones (classification of bone) with examples from the animal skeleton –
- Flat bones
- Long bones
- Short bones
- Irregular bones
- Pneumatic bones and
- Sesamoid bones
“Classification of bone is based on the size, shape, structure, and external appearance of the bone. You should also know the classification of the skeleton.”
Classification of skeleton
Skeleton is classified into three major groups – axial skeleton, appendicular skeleton, and visceral skeleton. The axial skeleton is located at the body’s midline (along the long axis); it consists of skull bones, vertebrae (cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal vertebrae), ribs, and sternum.
The appendicular skeleton is perpendicular to the ground surface; it consists of the fore limb’s bones (scapula, Humerus, radius ulna, carpal, metacarpal, and phalanges) and hind limb’s bones (Hip bones, femur, tibia fibula, tarsal, metatarsal, and phalanges).
In case some animals (especially ox, dogs) and birds, you will find a bone in some visceral organ-like, bone-in penis of a dog (called os penis of dog), bone-in heart muscle of ox (called os cordis of ox), and bone in the eye of bird (called os optics in a bird).
Pre – requites of learning
It would be best if you memorized all the names of bones from the animal body. You need to confirm that you could identify all the bones with their name from the animal body. If you want to memorize, you may visit here, or let’s start to memorize here –
You should know and identify the following different types of bones from the animal skeleton –
- Skull
- Vertebrae (cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacrum, coccygeal)
- Scapula bone
- Humerus bone
- Radius and ulna bones
- Carpal and metacarpal bones
- Phalanges
- Hip bones
- Femur bone
- Tibia and fibula bones
- Tarsal and metatarsal bones
Have you noticed that animal body axial skeletons are different in appearance? In the skull, you will find some flat bone (like frontal bone, nasal bone, maxilla bone, and others) – called flat bones; in a vertebra, you will find different shapes and size like – in thoracic vertebrae, they have a long spinous process, in a lumbar vertebra, they have a long transverse process, in sacrum – vertebrae are fused.
So, you may state that they didn’t have the regular shape or size, although they are grouped as vertebras – Those bones are commonly called irregular bones. You may visit this link if you want to know the osteological features of typical vertebrae.
Again, if you notice the fore limb’s bone – you will find different types of bones. The scapula is a flat triangular bone (called flat bones); Humerus is long, cylindrical in appearance, and has two expanded extremities at two ends – this type of bone is grouped as long bones.
Tibia and fibula are also long and have cylindrical bodies, so they are also grouped as long bones. In carpal bones – you will find that they are almost similar shaped, size and dimension. They are grouped as short bones.
In the fetlock joint of the fore limb (joint between the distal portion of metacarpal and first phalanges along with sesamoid bones) or hind limb (Joint between the distal portion of the metatarsal and first phalange) of an animal, you will find four depressions on the distal portion of metacarpal and metatarsal bones of the animal at its posterior portion.
In those depressions, four small bones are developed. They are short bones and grouped as sesamoid bones. If you want to know about identifying animal joints with bone involvement, I recommend you visit this link.
“You need to read the article first, and then you may go through pictures or video.”
Okay, now let’s start to identify different types of bones from animal skeletons with important osteological features –
Flat bones
The flat bones of animal skeleton have the following important features –
- Flat bones have a flat, irregular boney plate.
- They have sufficient surface area for muscle attachment
- They have spongy bone, which is covered by compact bone on two lateral surfaces
Flat bone example
You will find flat bones on a fore limb (scapula), in the hind limb (hip bone – ilium, ischium, and pubis), and most of the bones of the skull (frontal, temporal, sphenoid)
Long bones
The long bones of animal skeleton have the following important osteological features –
The long bones are long in appearance, and they have a cylindrical body
The body of long bones having a medullary cavity
At its two ends, they have two expanded extremities (called proximal extremity and distal extremity).
Long bone example
You will find long bones in the fore limb (humerus bone, radius and ulna bones, metacarpal bones) and also in the hind limb (femur bones, tibia and fibula bones, metatarsal bone)
Irregular bones
The irregular bones of animal skeleton have the following important osteological features –
The irregular bones are located at the midline of the body (along the long axis of the body)
They are unpaired and have many developed processes (spinous process, articular process, transverse process)
The irregular bones have a rough surface and have more surface area for better muscle attachment.
Irregular bones example
You will find irregular bones in the vertebrae of animals – cervical vertebrae, thoracic vertebrae, lumbar vertebrae, sacrum vertebrae, and coccygeal vertebrae.
Short bones
The short bones of animal skeleton have the following important osteological features –
The short bones are located at the joints
The dimensions of short bones are almost similar
They have six surfaces
Short bones example
You will find short bones in the carpal joint (accessory carpal, ulnar carpal, intermediate carpal, radial carpal) in the fore limb and tarsal joint (tarsal bones – tibial tarsal, fibular tarsal) in the hind limb.
Sesamoid bones
The sesamoid bones are developed within the tendon or in the joint. If you notice the patella (in the stifle joint), you will find the patella is located within the direction of the tendon. You will also find small or short bones which develop in the depression of the posterior aspect of metacarpal and metatarsal bone (distal portion).
Sesamoid bones example
You will find sesamoid bones at the stifle joint (patella), proximal sesamoid bones (at fetlock joint), and distal sesamoid bones (at pastern joint)
Pneumatic bones
The pneumatic bones of animals or birds have the following important features –
The pneumatic bones have cavities inside the body
Pneumatic bones example
You will find pneumatic bones in birds (humerus bone) and some bones from the skull of animals (frontal, maxilla, temporal)
You should also know.
Osteological features of a fore limb bone of an animal
Osteological features of a hind limb bone of an animal
Osteological features of vertebrae of the animal
Osteological features of skull bones of an animal
Structure of a long bone of an animal
Conclusion
I hope you got an idea of different types of bones from animal skeletons (classification of bone). Now, you can identify the different types of bones from animal skeletons.
If you think that information’s not enough for you to learn about different types of animal skeleton bones, I recommend you to learn from class lectures or books. And again, if you want to learn more about veterinary anatomy, I recommend connecting with me or following my upcoming articles.
“If possible, I will update or enrich information, pictures and videos on this topic in future.”
If there is any mistake in the above information or if you have any suggestions for me, please, let me know in the comment box. Thank you so much.