There is a large number of bones in human body. There are approximately 214 bones in an adult human skeleton. However, the skeleton of an infant is made up of 350 bones, which fuse together as they grow, especially those in the skull. The longest and heaviest bone in the body is the femur (thigh bone), and the smallest one is the stapes, which is a tiny piece located in the middle ear, transmitting acoustic vibrations into the inner year.
We say "approximately" 214, because their number in an adult skeleton can vary slightly from individual to individual. Anatomical variation may result in extra bones, which are most commonly noticed in the skull (satural bones), ribs (cervical and lumbar ribs), the vertebrae (extra lumbar vertebra), and sesamoid bones.
The vertebral column, which holds the spinal cord, consists of 26 bones called vertebrae. 24 of these vertebrae are movable and two are rigid. From top to bottom, there are 7 cervical, 12 thoracic, and 5 lumbar vertebrae + the sacrum and the coccyx. During early infancy, the sacrum is made up of 5 separate pieces which get fused together into one bone as the infant grows. The coccyx is composed of three bones, which also become one.
