53.0k views
3 votes
There are ___ bones (not including ear ossicles) in the head.

User Giancarlo
by
6.8k points

1 Answer

4 votes

Final answer:

There are 22 bones in the human head, excluding ear ossicles, with the mandible being the only movable bone among them. The skull's cranial bones, which form the cranium, are tightly fused in adults, offering protection for the brain.

Step-by-step explanation:

There are 22 bones (not including ear ossicles) in the head. The adult human skull is comprised of 22 individual bones, but only 21 of these are fused and do not move.

Among these, the mandible, or lower jawbone, stands out as the sole movable bone. Additionally, the skull features eight cranial bones that encapsulate the brain and form the cranium.

The cranial cavity is shaped by the frontal bone, two parietal bones, two temporal bones, the occipital bone, the sphenoid bone, and the ethmoid bone. While these bones develop separately during the embryonic stage, they are closely interlocked in the adult head through connective tissues, resulting in little to no movement between them.

User Daniel Kucal
by
8.6k points