Skeleton - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The skeleton is the body part that forms the supporting structure of an organism

Organism

In biology, an organism is any contiguous living system . In at least some form, all organisms are capable of response to stimuli, reproduction, growth and development, and maintenance of homoeostasis as a stable whole.An organism may either be unicellular or, as in the case of humans, comprise...

. There are two different skeletal types: the exoskeleton

Exoskeleton

An exoskeleton is the external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to the internal skeleton of, for example, a human. In popular usage, some of the larger kinds of exoskeletons are known as "shells". Examples of exoskeleton animals include insects such as grasshoppers...

, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, and the endoskeleton

Endoskeleton

An endoskeleton is an internal support structure of an animal, composed of mineralized tissue. Endoskeleton develops within the skin or in the deeper body tissues. The vertebrate is basically an endoskeleton made up of two types of tissues . During early embryonic development the endoskeleton is...

, which forms the support structure inside the body.

In a figurative sense, skeleton can refer to technology that supports a structure such as a building.

Exoskeleton

s are external, and are found in many invertebrate

Invertebrate

An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...

s; they enclose and protect the soft tissues and organs of the body. Some kinds of exoskeletons undergo periodic moult

Moult

In biology, moulting or molting , also known as sloughing, shedding, or for some species, ecdysis, is the manner in which an animal routinely casts off a part of its body , either at specific times of year, or at specific points in its life cycle.Moulting can involve the epidermis , pelage...

ing as the animal grows, as is the case in many arthropod

Arthropod

An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton , a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods are members of the phylum Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others...

s including insect

Insect

Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...

s and crustacean

Crustacean

Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...

s.
Exoskeletons are made of different materials including chitin

Chitin

Chitin n is a long-chain polymer of a N-acetylglucosamine, a derivative of glucose, and is found in many places throughout the natural world...

(in arthropods), calcium

Calcium

Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft gray alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth-most-abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust...

compounds (in coral

Coral

Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...

s and mollusks) and silicate

Silicate

A silicate is a compound containing a silicon bearing anion. The great majority of silicates are oxides, but hexafluorosilicate and other anions are also included. This article focuses mainly on the Si-O anions. Silicates comprise the majority of the earth's crust, as well as the other...

(for diatom

Diatom

Diatoms are a major group of algae, and are one of the most common types of phytoplankton. Most diatoms are unicellular, although they can exist as colonies in the shape of filaments or ribbons , fans , zigzags , or stellate colonies . Diatoms are producers within the food chain...

s and radiolarian

Radiolarian

Radiolarians are amoeboid protozoa that produce intricate mineral skeletons, typically with a central capsule dividing the cell into inner and outer portions, called endoplasm and ectoplasm. They are found as zooplankton throughout the ocean, and their skeletal remains cover large portions of the...

s).

The exoskeleton of insects is not only a protection but also serves as a surface for muscle attachment, as a watertight protection against drying and as a sense organ to interact with their environments. The shell

Mollusc shell

The mollusc shell is typically a calcareous exoskeleton which encloses, supports and protects the soft parts of an animal in the phylum Mollusca, which includes snails, clams, tusk shells, and several other classes...

of mollusks also performs all of the same functions, except that in most cases it does not contain sense organs.

An external skeleton can be quite heavy in relation to the overall mass of an animal, so on land, organisms that have an exoskeleton are mostly relatively small. Somewhat larger aquatic animals can support an exoskeleton because weight is less of a consideration underwater. The southern giant clam

Southern giant clam

The southern giant clam, Tridacna derasa, is a species of extremely large saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Tridacnidae, the giant clam family.-Description:...

, a species of extremely large saltwater clam in the Pacific Ocean, has a shell that is massive in both size and weight. Syrinx aruanus
Syrinx aruanus
Syrinx aruanus, common name the Australian trumpet or false trumpet, is a species of extremely large sea snail measuring up to 91 cm long and weighing up to 18 kg...

is a species of sea snail with a very large shell.

Endoskeleton

s is the internal support structure of an animal

Animal

Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...

, composed of mineralized tissue

Mineralized tissues

Mineralized tissues are biological tissues that incorporate minerals into soft matrices. Typically these tissues form a protective shield or structural support...

and are typical of many vertebrate

Vertebrate

Vertebrates are animals that are members of the subphylum Vertebrata . Vertebrates are the largest group of chordates, with currently about 58,000 species described. Vertebrates include the jawless fishes, bony fishes, sharks and rays, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds...

s. They vary in complexity such as functioning purely for support (as in the case of sponges), but often serves as an attachment site for muscle and a mechanism for transmitting muscular forces. A true endoskeleton is derived from mesodermal tissue. Such a skeleton is present in echinoderms and chordates.

Sponges

The skeleton of sponges consists of microscopic calcareous

Calcareous

Calcareous is an adjective meaning mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate, in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines.-In zoology:...

or silicious spicule

Sponge spicule

Spicules are structural elements found in most sponges. They provide structural support and deter predators. Large spicules, visible to the naked eye are referred to as megascleres, while smaller, microscopic ones are termed microscleres.- Structure :...

s. The demosponge

Demosponge

The Demospongiae are the largest class in the phylum Porifera. Their "skeletons" are made of spicules consisting of fibers of the protein spongin, the mineral silica, or both. Where spicules of silica are present, they have a different shape from those in the otherwise similar glass sponges...

s include 90% of all species of sponges. Their "skeletons" are made of spicules consisting of fibers of the protein spongin

Spongin

Spongin, a modified type of collagen protein, forms the fibrous skeleton of most organisms among the phylum Porifera, the sponges. They are secreted by sponge cells known as spongocytes...

, the mineral silica, or both. Where spicules of silica are present, they have a different shape from those in the otherwise similar glass sponges.

Echinoderms

The skeleton of the echinoderm

Echinoderm

Echinoderms are a phylum of marine animals. Echinoderms are found at every ocean depth, from the intertidal zone to the abyssal zone....

s, which include, among other things, the starfish, is composed of calcite and a small amount of magnesium oxide

Magnesium oxide

Magnesium oxide , or magnesia, is a white hygroscopic solid mineral that occurs naturally as periclase and is a source of magnesium . It has an empirical formula of and consists of a lattice of Mg2+ ions and O2– ions held together by ionic bonds...

. It lies below the epidermis

Epidermis (zoology)

The Epidermis is an epithelium that covers the body of an eumetazoan . Eumetazoa have a cavity lined with a similar epithelium, the gastrodermis, which forms a boundary with the epidermis at the mouth.Sponges have no epithelium, and therefore no epidermis or gastrodermis...

in the mesoderm

Mesoderm

In all bilaterian animals, the mesoderm is one of the three primary germ cell layers in the very early embryo. The other two layers are the ectoderm and endoderm , with the mesoderm as the middle layer between them.The mesoderm forms mesenchyme , mesothelium, non-epithelial blood corpuscles and...

and is within cell clusters of frame-forming cells. This structure formed is porous and therefore firm and at the same time light. It coalesces into small calcareous

Calcareous

ossicles (bony plates), which can grow in all directions and thus can replace the loss of a body part. Connected by joints, the individual skeletal parts can be moved by the muscles.

Chordates

In humans and generally in most vertebrates, the main skeletal component is referred to as bone

Bone

Bones are rigid organs that constitute part of the endoskeleton of vertebrates. They support, and protect the various organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells and store minerals. Bone tissue is a type of dense connective tissue...

. Another important component is cartilage

Cartilage

Cartilage is a flexible connective tissue found in many areas in the bodies of humans and other animals, including the joints between bones, the rib cage, the ear, the nose, the elbow, the knee, the ankle, the bronchial tubes and the intervertebral discs...

. In mammals they are found mainly in the joint areas. In other animals, such as the cartilaginous fishes, which include the shark

Shark

Sharks are a type of fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a highly streamlined body. The earliest known sharks date from more than 420 million years ago....

s, the skeleton is composed entirely of cartilage.

Bones in addition to supporting the body also serve, at the cellular level, as calcium and phosphate storage.

Fish

The skeleton of the fish

Fish

Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

is either made of cartilage

Cartilage

(cartilage fish) or bones (bony fishes). The main features of the fish, the fins, are bony fin rays and, except the caudal fin, have no direct connection with the spine. They are supported only by the muscles. The ribs attach to the spine.

Birds

The bird skeleton is highly adapted

Adaptation

An adaptation in biology is a trait with a current functional role in the life history of an organism that is maintained and evolved by means of natural selection. An adaptation refers to both the current state of being adapted and to the dynamic evolutionary process that leads to the adaptation....

for flight

Flight

Flight is the process by which an object moves either through an atmosphere or beyond it by generating lift or propulsive thrust, or aerostatically using buoyancy, or by simple ballistic movement....

. It is extremely lightweight but strong enough to withstand the stresses

Stress (physics)

In continuum mechanics, stress is a measure of the internal forces acting within a deformable body. Quantitatively, it is a measure of the average force per unit area of a surface within the body on which internal forces act. These internal forces are a reaction to external forces applied on the body...

of taking off, flying, and landing. One key adaptation is the fusing of bone

Bone

s into single ossification

Ossification

Ossification is the process of laying down new bone material by cells called osteoblasts. It is synonymous with bone tissue formation...

s, such as the pygostyle

Pygostyle

Pygostyle refers to a number of the final few caudal vertebrae fused into a single ossification, supporting the tail feathers and musculature. In modern birds, the rectrices attach to these....

. Because of this, birds usually have a smaller number of bones than other terrestrial vertebrates. Birds also lack teeth or even a true jaw

Jaw

The jaw is any opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth, typically used for grasping and manipulating food. The term jaws is also broadly applied to the whole of the structures constituting the vault of the mouth and serving to open and close it and is part of the body plan of...

, instead having evolved a beak

Beak

The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...

, which is far more lightweight. The beaks of many baby birds have a projection called an egg tooth

Egg tooth

In some egg-laying animals, the egg tooth is a small, sharp, cranial protuberance used by offspring to break or tear through the egg's surface during hatching...

, which facilitates their exit from the amniotic egg.

Marine mammals

To facilitate movement of marine mammals in the water, the hind legs were either lost altogether, as in the whale

Whale

Whale is the common name for various marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale sometimes refers to all cetaceans, but more often it excludes dolphins and porpoises, which belong to suborder Odontoceti . This suborder also includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga...

s and manatee

Manatee

Manatees are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows...

s, or united in a single tail fin (e.g., seal

Pinniped

Pinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semiaquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae .-Overview: Pinnipeds are typically sleek-bodied and barrel-shaped...

s).

Hydrostatic skeleton

The most simple form of skeleton is the Hydrostatic skeleton

Hydrostatic skeleton

A hydrostatic skeleton or hydroskeleton is a structure found in many cold-blooded organisms and soft-bodied animals consisting of a fluid-filled cavity, the coelom, surrounded by muscles. The pressure of the fluid and action of the surrounding circular and longitudinal muscles are used to change an...

found in many cold-blooded

Poikilotherm

A poikilotherm is an organism whose internal temperature varies considerably. It is the opposite of a homeotherm, an organism which maintains thermal homeostasis. Usually the variation is a consequence of variation in the ambient environmental temperature...

organisms and soft-bodied animals. The pressure of the fluid and action of the surrounding muscles are used to change an organism's shape and produce movement. This fluid filled cavity is known as the coelom

Coelom

The coelom is a fluid-filled cavity formed within the mesoderm. Coeloms developed in triploblasts but were subsequently lost in several lineages. Loss of coelom is correlated with reduction in body size...

. Invertebrate such as starfish, sea urchin

Sea urchin

Sea urchins or urchins are small, spiny, globular animals which, with their close kin, such as sand dollars, constitute the class Echinoidea of the echinoderm phylum. They inhabit all oceans. Their shell, or "test", is round and spiny, typically from across. Common colors include black and dull...

s, jellyfish

Jellyfish

Jellyfish are free-swimming members of the phylum Cnidaria. Medusa is another word for jellyfish, and refers to any free-swimming jellyfish stages in the phylum Cnidaria...

and earthworms has this form of a skeleton. The hydrostatic skeleton has some similarities to muscular hydrostat

Muscular hydrostat

A muscular hydrostat is a biological structure found in animals. It is used to manipulate items or to move its host about and consists mainly of muscles with no skeletal support...

Cytoskeleton

The cytoskeleton

Cytoskeleton

The cytoskeleton is a cellular "scaffolding" or "skeleton" contained within a cell's cytoplasm and is made out of protein. The cytoskeleton is present in all cells; it was once thought to be unique to eukaryotes, but recent research has identified the prokaryotic cytoskeleton...

(gr. kytos = cell) is used to stabilize and preserve the form of the cells. It is a dynamic structure that maintains cell shape, protects the cell, enables cellular motion (using structures such as flagella, cilia and lamellipodia

Lamellipodia

The lamellipodium is a cytoskeletal protein actin projection on the mobile edge of the cell. It contains a quasi-two-dimensional actin mesh; the whole structure propels the cell across a substrate...

), and plays important roles in both intracellular transport (the movement of vesicle

Vesicle (biology)

A vesicle is a bubble of liquid within another liquid, a supramolecular assembly made up of many different molecules. More technically, a vesicle is a small membrane-enclosed sack that can store or transport substances. Vesicles can form naturally because of the properties of lipid membranes , or...

s and organelle

Organelle

In cell biology, an organelle is a specialized subunit within a cell that has a specific function, and is usually separately enclosed within its own lipid bilayer....

s, for example) and cellular division.

Human

The human skeleton consists of both fused and individual bone

Bone

s supported and supplemented by ligament

Ligament

In anatomy, the term ligament is used to denote any of three types of structures. Most commonly, it refers to fibrous tissue that connects bones to other bones and is also known as articular ligament, articular larua, fibrous ligament, or true ligament.Ligament can also refer to:* Peritoneal...

s, tendon

Tendon

A tendon is a tough band of fibrous connective tissue that usually connects muscle to bone and is capable of withstanding tension. Tendons are similar to ligaments and fasciae as they are all made of collagen except that ligaments join one bone to another bone, and fasciae connect muscles to other...

s, muscle

Muscle

Muscle is a contractile tissue of animals and is derived from the mesodermal layer of embryonic germ cells. Muscle cells contain contractile filaments that move past each other and change the size of the cell. They are classified as skeletal, cardiac, or smooth muscles. Their function is to...

s and cartilage

Cartilage

. It serves as a scaffold which supports organs, anchors muscles, and protects organs such as the brain

Human brain

The human brain has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over three times larger than the brain of a typical mammal with an equivalent body size. Estimates for the number of neurons in the human brain range from 80 to 120 billion...

, lung

Human lung

The human lungs are the organs of respiration in humans. Humans have two lungs, with the left being divided into two lobes and the right into three lobes. Together, the lungs contain approximately of airways and 300 to 500 million alveoli, having a total surface area of about in...

s and heart

Human heart

The human heart is a muscular organ that provides a continuous blood circulation through the cardiac cycle and is one of the most vital organs in the human body...

. Although the teeth do not consist of tissue commonly found in other bones, the teeth are considered bones and are a member of the skeletal system.
The biggest bone in the body is the femur

Femur

The femur , or thigh bone, is the most proximal bone of the leg in tetrapod vertebrates capable of walking or jumping, such as most land mammals, birds, many reptiles such as lizards, and amphibians such as frogs. In vertebrates with four legs such as dogs and horses, the femur is found only in...

in the upper leg, and the smallest is the stapes bone in the middle ear

Middle ear

The middle ear is the portion of the ear internal to the eardrum, and external to the oval window of the cochlea. The mammalian middle ear contains three ossicles, which couple vibration of the eardrum into waves in the fluid and membranes of the inner ear. The hollow space of the middle ear has...

. In an adult, the skeleton comprises around 14% of the total body weight, and half of this weight is water.

Fused bones include those of the pelvis and the cranium

Human skull

The human skull is a bony structure, skeleton, that is in the human head and which supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.In humans, the adult skull is normally made up of 22 bones...

. Not all bones are interconnected directly: There are three bones in each middle ear

Middle ear

called the ossicles

Ossicles

The ossicles are the three smallest bones in the human body. They are contained within the middle ear space and serve to transmit sounds from the air to the fluid-filled labyrinth . The absence of the auditory ossicles would constitute a moderate-to-severe hearing loss...

that articulate only with each other. The hyoid bone

Hyoid bone

The hyoid bone is a horseshoe-shaped bone situated in the anterior midline of the neck between the chin and the thyroid cartilage. At rest, it lies at the level of the base of the mandible in the front and the third cervical vertebra behind.Unlike other bones, the hyoid is only distantly...

, which is located in the neck and serves as the point of attachment for the tongue

Tongue

The tongue is a muscular hydrostat on the floors of the mouths of most vertebrates which manipulates food for mastication. It is the primary organ of taste , as much of the upper surface of the tongue is covered in papillae and taste buds. It is sensitive and kept moist by saliva, and is richly...

, does not articulate with any other bones in the body, being supported by muscles and ligaments.

There are 206 bones in the adult human skeleton (this number depends on whether the pelvic bones (the os innominatum on each side) are counted as one or three bones on each side (ilium, ischium, and pubis), whether the coccyx or tail bone is counted as one or four separate bones, and does not count the variable wormian bones between skull sutures. Similarly, the sacrum is usually counted as a single bone, rather than five fused vertebrae. There is also a variable number of small sesamoid bones, commonly found in tendons. The patella or kneecap on each side is an example of a larger sesamoid bone. The patellae are counted in the total, as they are constant). The number of bones varies between individuals and with age - newborn babies have over 270 bones some of which fuse together. These bones are organized into a longitudinal axis, the axial skeleton

Axial skeleton

The axial skeleton consists of the 80 bones along the central axis of the human body. It is composed of six parts; the human skull, the ossicles of the middle ear, the hyoid bone of the throat, the rib cage, sternum and the vertebral column...

, to which the appendicular skeleton

Appendicular skeleton

The Appendicular skeleton is composed of 126 bones in the human body. The word appendicular is the adjective of the noun appendage, which itself means a part that is joined to something larger...

is attached.

The human skeleton takes 20 years before it is fully developed. In many animals, the skeleton bones contain marrow

Bone marrow

Bone marrow is the flexible tissue found in the interior of bones. In humans, bone marrow in large bones produces new blood cells. On average, bone marrow constitutes 4% of the total body mass of humans; in adults weighing 65 kg , bone marrow accounts for approximately 2.6 kg...

, which produces blood cells.
Much of the human skeleton maintains the ancient segmental pattern present in all vertebrate

Vertebrate

s (mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians) with basic units being repeated. This segmental pattern is particularly evident in the vertebral column and in the ribcage.

Bone

Bones are rigid organs

Organ (anatomy)

In biology, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in structural unit to serve a common function. Usually there is a main tissue and sporadic tissues . The main tissue is the one that is unique for the specific organ. For example, main tissue in the heart is the myocardium, while sporadic are...

that form part of the endoskeleton

Endoskeleton

of vertebrate

Vertebrate

s. They function to move, support, and protect the various organs of the body, produce red

Red blood cell

Red blood cells are the most common type of blood cell and the vertebrate organism's principal means of delivering oxygen to the body tissues via the blood flow through the circulatory system...

and white blood cell

White blood cell

White blood cells, or leukocytes , are cells of the immune system involved in defending the body against both infectious disease and foreign materials. Five different and diverse types of leukocytes exist, but they are all produced and derived from a multipotent cell in the bone marrow known as a...

s and store mineral

Mineral

A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...

s. Bone tissue is a type of dense connective tissue

Connective tissue

"Connective tissue" is a fibrous tissue. It is one of the four traditional classes of tissues . Connective Tissue is found throughout the body.In fact the whole framework of the skeleton and the different specialized connective tissues from the crown of the head to the toes determine the form of...

. Because bones come in a variety of shapes and have a complex internal and external structure

Structure

Structure is a fundamental, tangible or intangible notion referring to the recognition, observation, nature, and permanence of patterns and relationships of entities. This notion may itself be an object, such as a built structure, or an attribute, such as the structure of society...

they are lightweight, yet strong and hard, in addition to fulfilling their many other functions

Function (biology)

A function is part of an answer to a question about why some object or process occurred in a system that evolved through a process of selection. Thus, function refers forward from the object or process, along some chain of causation, to the goal or success...

. One of the types of tissue that makes up bone is the mineralized osseous tissue

Osseous tissue

Osseous tissue, or bone tissue, is the major structural and supportive connective tissue of the body. Osseous tissue forms the rigid part of the bone organs that make up the skeletal system.-Formation:Bone tissue is a mineralized connective tissue...

, also called bone tissue, that gives it rigidity and a honeycomb-like

Honeycomb (geometry)

In geometry, a honeycomb is a space filling or close packing of polyhedral or higher-dimensional cells, so that there are no gaps. It is an example of the more general mathematical tiling or tessellation in any number of dimensions....

three-dimensional internal structure. Other types of tissue found in bones include marrow

Bone marrow

, endosteum

Endosteum

In anatomy the endosteum is a thin layer of connective tissue that lines the surface of the bony tissue that forms the medullary cavity of long bones. This endosteal surface is usually resorbed during long periods of malnutrition, resulting in less cortical thickness...

and periosteum

Periosteum

Periosteum is a membrane that lines the outer surface of all bones, except at the joints of long bones. Endosteum lines the inner surface of all bones....

, nerve

Nerve

A peripheral nerve, or simply nerve, is an enclosed, cable-like bundle of peripheral axons . A nerve provides a common pathway for the electrochemical nerve impulses that are transmitted along each of the axons. Nerves are found only in the peripheral nervous system...

s, blood vessel

Blood vessel

The blood vessels are the part of the circulatory system that transports blood throughout the body. There are three major types of blood vessels: the arteries, which carry the blood away from the heart; the capillaries, which enable the actual exchange of water and chemicals between the blood and...

s and cartilage

Cartilage

. There are 206 bones in the adult human body and 270 in an infant

Infant

A newborn or baby is the very young offspring of a human or other mammal. A newborn is an infant who is within hours, days, or up to a few weeks from birth. In medical contexts, newborn or neonate refers to an infant in the first 28 days after birth...

Cartilage

A commonly mistaken thought is that Cartilage is only present in a human's nose area. However, when humans are first born, their skeletal structure is made entirely of cartilage. This substance is then replaced by bone around the age of 14 months. Cartilage is a stiff and inflexible connective tissue

Connective tissue

found in many areas in the bodies of humans and other animals, including the joints between bone

Bone

s, the rib cage

Rib cage

The rib cage is an arrangement of bones in the thorax of animals. It is formed by the vertebral column, ribs and sternum and encloses the heart and lungs....

, the ear

Ear

The ear is the organ that detects sound. It not only receives sound, but also aids in balance and body position. The ear is part of the auditory system....

, the nose

Nose

Anatomically, a nose is a protuberance in vertebrates that houses the nostrils, or nares, which admit and expel air for respiration in conjunction with the mouth. Behind the nose are the olfactory mucosa and the sinuses. Behind the nasal cavity, air next passes through the pharynx, shared with the...

, the elbow, the knee, the ankle, the bronchial tubes and the intervertebral disc

Intervertebral disc

Intervertebral discs lie between adjacent vertebrae in the spine. Each disc forms a cartilaginous joint to allow slight movement of the vertebrae, and acts as a ligament to hold the vertebrae together.-Structure:...

s. It is not as hard and rigid as bone

Bone

but is stiffer and less flexible than muscle

Muscle

.

Cartilage is composed of specialized cells called chondrocytes that produce a large amount of extracellular matrix

Extracellular matrix

In biology, the extracellular matrix is the extracellular part of animal tissue that usually provides structural support to the animal cells in addition to performing various other important functions. The extracellular matrix is the defining feature of connective tissue in animals.Extracellular...

composed of Type II collagen

Collagen

Collagen is a group of naturally occurring proteins found in animals, especially in the flesh and connective tissues of mammals. It is the main component of connective tissue, and is the most abundant protein in mammals, making up about 25% to 35% of the whole-body protein content...

(except Fibrocartilage which also contains type I collagen) fibers, abundant ground substance

Ground substance

Ground substance is a term for the non-cellular components of extracellular matrix which contain the fibers.It is usually not visible on slides, because it is removed during the preparation process....

rich in proteoglycan

Proteoglycan

Proteoglycans are proteins that are heavily glycosylated. The basic proteoglycan unit consists of a "core protein" with one or more covalently attached glycosaminoglycan chain. The point of attachment is a Ser residue to which the glycosaminoglycan is joined through a tetrasaccharide bridge...

, and elastin

Elastin

Elastin is a protein in connective tissue that is elastic and allows many tissues in the body to resume their shape after stretching or contracting. Elastin helps skin to return to its original position when it is poked or pinched. Elastin is also an important load-bearing tissue in the bodies of...

fibers. Cartilage is classified in three types, elastic cartilage

Elastic cartilage

Elastic cartilage or yellow cartilage is a type of cartilage present in the outer ear, larynx, and epiglottis. It contains elastic fiber networks and collagen fibers. The principal protein is elastin....

, hyaline cartilage

Hyaline cartilage

Hyaline cartilage consists of a slimy mass, pearly bluish in colour with firm consistency and considerable collagen. It contains no nerves or blood vessels, and its structure is relatively simple....

and fibrocartilage

Fibrocartilage

White fibrocartilage consists of a mixture of white fibrous tissue and cartilaginous tissue in various proportions. It owes its flexibility and toughness to the former of these constituents, and its elasticity to the latter...

, which differ in the relative amounts of these three main components.

Unlike other connective tissues, cartilage does not contain blood vessels. The chondrocytes are supplied by diffusion, helped by the pumping action generated by compression of the articular cartilage or flexion of the elastic cartilage. Thus, compared to other connective tissues, cartilage grows and repairs more slowly.

External links

Skeletal, Bones and cartilage in great detail Human Body Skeleton, Bones and cartilage.

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Exoskeleton

Endoskeleton

Sponges

Echinoderms

Chordates

Fish

Birds

Marine mammals

Hydrostatic skeleton

Cytoskeleton

Human

Bone

Cartilage

See also

External links