In this example, we're going to identify whether bones are long, short, flat, or irregular. As we look, we have an anatomical model where we can see the skeleton, and we have 4 bones pulled out. So let's go through those bones one by one. First up, we have the scapula, also just called your shoulder blade.
So I happen to have a model of a scapula here, so we can take a look. Take a look at this bone, and what kind of bone do you think it is? Well, when I look at it, pretty much every way I look at it, this bone is really thin. There really isn't a fat place on it. It does have this kind of crazy spine here, but even that is thin in at least one dimension.
So when I see a bone like this where every urethra is pretty thin, it's slightly curved, it's pretty flat, well, that's a flat bone. So I'm going to mark it with an F. The scapula is an excellent example of a flat bone. Moving on, we have the sacrum, and I have a model of the sacrum here. What type of bone do you think this is?
Well, the sacrum is the bottom of your spine, also the back of the pelvis. It's actually made by 5 vertebrae fusing to form one bone. And when I look at it, it's this kind of crazy shape. Sometimes I think it reminds me of a dragon's head or something like that. It would be really hard to describe this shape in any kind of detail quickly.
And when you see something like this that is definitely not flat and is just well, it's a really irregular shape, that's an irregular bone. So I'm going to mark it with an I. Sacrum, vertebrae, facial bones, and the hips, those are the irregular bones in the body. As we go over, we have the femur. The femur is the largest bone in the body.
It's your thigh bone. So what type of bone do you think this is? Well, when I look at it, I see that it has a shaft with two wide ends. When you have a bone with a shaft and wide ends, that's going to be a long bone. Now that may be kind of obvious for the femur because it is the longest bone in your body, but long bones don't have to be long.
Right? The tip of your pinky, the bone in there, that's a long bone and it's really short. The thing that makes it a long bone is, like the femur, it has a shaft with two wide ends. So, the femur, a long bone. That brings us to our last one here.
These are the tarsals. So if we look at this model of a foot here, the tarsals are the bones at the back end here. And as I look at these bones, well, I'll ask you first, what do you think they are? As I look at them, they don't really have any kind of distinct shape. They're kind of lump-like.
I believe above we described them as cube-like. You could also sort of say they're sphere-shaped. They have very specific shapes, but it's nothing to write home about. It's nothing too complex when you look at it. When you see a bone like that, relatively small, kind of lump-like, that is a short bone.
The short bones are the bones of your wrists and your ankles. Okay. With that, we've identified some bones. We have some practice problems to follow, and I'll see you there.
