Commonly confused bones, compared in 3D
Bones that lie side by side, such as the radius and ulna of the forearm or the tibia and fibula of the lower leg, and bones that share a name, such as the scaphoid and navicular, are often confused. BAHI BODY lights up 11 such sets together on its 3D skeleton to show where they are and how they differ.
Frequently asked questions
Which forearm bone is on the thumb side?
The radius is on the thumb side and the ulna is on the little-finger side. The bony point you can feel at the wrist below the thumb is the styloid process of the radius.
Which of the two bones is part of the knee joint?
The tibia is part of the knee joint, which is formed by the femur, the tibia and the patella. The fibula joins only the tibia, just below and to the outer side of the knee, and does not take part in the knee joint.
How many cervical, thoracic and lumbar vertebrae are there?
There are 7 cervical, 12 thoracic and 5 lumbar vertebrae, 24 in all. Below them, the sacrum is formed from five fused vertebrae and the coccyx from about four small fused vertebrae.
Bones compared
- Radius vs ulna: The radius and the ulna are the two bones of the forearm: with the palm facing forwards, the radius lies on the thumb side and the ulna on the little-finger side.
- Tibia vs fibula: The tibia and the fibula are the two bones of the lower leg: the tibia is the thick inner bone and the fibula the slender outer one.
- Cervical vs thoracic vs lumbar vertebrae: From the top, the spine has 7 cervical vertebrae in the neck, 12 thoracic vertebrae in the chest and 5 lumbar vertebrae in the lower back, followed by the sacrum and the coccyx.
- Atlas vs axis (C1 and C2): The atlas is the first cervical vertebra (C1) and the axis the second (C2), the top two bones of the spine.
- Femur vs humerus: The femur is the bone of the thigh, from the hip to the knee, and the humerus is the bone of the upper arm, from the shoulder to the elbow.
- Clavicle vs scapula: The clavicle is the S-shaped bone lying across the top of the chest to the shoulder, and the scapula is the flat triangular bone on the upper back, behind the ribs.
- Maxilla vs mandible: The maxilla is the pair of bones forming the upper jaw, which holds the upper teeth, and the mandible is the single bone of the lower jaw, which holds the lower teeth.
- Scaphoid vs navicular bone: Scaphoid and navicular both mean boat-shaped, and the hand and the foot each have one such bone.
- Carpals vs tarsals: The carpals are the eight small bones of the wrist, set in two rows of four, and the tarsals are the seven bones of the ankle and the back half of the foot.
- Metacarpals vs metatarsals: The metacarpals are the five bones of the palm, and the metatarsals are the five bones in the middle of the foot.
- True vs false vs floating ribs: The twelve pairs of ribs are grouped by how their front ends reach the sternum.
Organs compared
- Small intestine vs large intestine
- Liver vs pancreas
- Liver vs spleen
- Stomach vs pancreas
- Heart vs lungs
- Stomach vs small intestine
Skeleton
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Related reading
- Sarcopenia: what to measure, and what to do, when muscle and strength decline
- What getting up from a chair says about how your body is ageing
- Why ageing bone marrow turns to fat, and a PEMF study in mice
- PEMF and whole-body vibration: two rhythms that reach the body
- Myokines: the signals working muscle sends to the body
- Ageing parents: the changes families notice first
Once the 3D model loads you can turn it and select each part.