6.7: Categories of Bones
People who study skeletons place the different bones of the skeleton into groups according to their shape or the way in which they develop. Thus we have long bones like the femur, radius and finger bones, short bones like the ones of the wrist and ankle, irregular bones like the vertebrae and flat bones like the shoulder blade and bones of the skull. Finally there are bones that develop in tissue separated from the main skeleton. These include sesamoid bones which include bones like the patella or kneecap that develop in tendons and visceral bones that develop in the soft tissue of the penis of the dog and the cow’s heart.