Q 01/05

Roughly how many bones does a newborn baby have before many fuse together?

A) About 206

B) About 150

C) About 350

D) About 270

Answer · why

D) About 270

Adults end up with around 206, not counting the little accessory bones some people have. Fusion in the skull, spine and pelvis accounts for the drop.

Q 02/05

Which is the only bone in the human body that does not connect to any other bone?

A) The hyoid

B) The patella

C) The stapes

D) The coccyx

Answer · why

A) The hyoid

It sits in the neck, held in place by muscles and ligaments, and anchors the tongue. Its fracture is a classic forensic sign of strangulation.

Q 03/05

The kneecap is the largest example of what type of bone?

A) Pneumatic

B) Sutural

C) Sesamoid

D) Irregular

Answer · why

C) Sesamoid

Sesamoid bones grow inside tendons. The patella glides over the femur and protects the front of the knee joint.

Q 04/05

Which muscle, just over a millimetre long, is the smallest skeletal muscle in the body?

A) The arrector pili

B) The stapedius

C) The orbicularis oculi

D) The lumbrical

Answer · why

B) The stapedius

It steadies the stapes in the middle ear and contracts to dampen loud sounds. Its nerve is a branch of the facial nerve.

Q 05/05

Which muscle, running diagonally across the thigh, is the longest in the human body?

A) The gracilis

B) The rectus femoris

C) The sartorius

D) The biceps femoris

Answer · why

C) The sartorius

Its old French name was couturier, the tailor, because sitting cross-legged as tailors once did uses every one of its actions.