An adult human typically has 206 bones in their skeleton. This count includes bones of the skull, spine (vertebrae), ribs, arms, legs, hands, and feet
. At birth, humans have approximately 270 bones, but many of these fuse together during growth and development, resulting in the standard adult count of 206 bones
. The skeleton is divided into two main parts:
- The axial skeleton, which includes 80 bones such as the skull, vertebral column, ribs, and sternum.
- The appendicular skeleton, which includes 126 bones found in the limbs and girdles (shoulder and pelvic bones)
Some adults may have a slightly different number of bones (up to about 213) due to anatomical variations like extra ribs or sesamoid bones
