anatomy · section one
the skeleton
206 bones · 237 joints
Point at the drawing, or search for a bone by any name you know it by. Choosing one marks it in ink and turns everything it joins onto green, because a bone on its own tells you almost nothing — what it does is decided by what it is attached to.
nothing in the skeleton touches it
“hyoid bone. one of them.”
axial skeleton · throat
Hyoid bone
Os hyoideum · one of them · also called tongue bone, floating bone
The hyoid is the anchor that the muscles of the tongue and the floor of the mouth pull against, and it is hauled upwards every time you swallow so that the airway is sealed off. Rest a fingertip in the soft hollow just above your voice box and swallow - the small hard bar that jumps up under your finger and settles back down is the hyoid.
the only bone in the body that meets no other bone - it is slung from muscles and ligaments alone
what it joins onto — nothing
It meets no other bone. Muscles and ligaments hold it where it is, which is why it is the one bone in you that can be lifted clear of the skeleton without a joint being opened.
62 entries, 206 bones