short bone short bone short bones are designated as those bones that are as wide as they are long. their primary function is to provide support and stability with little to no movement. they are one of five types of bones: short, long, flat, irregular and sesamoid. examples of these bones include the tarsals in the foot and the carpals in the hand. short bonecarpus (bones of wrist) is classified as short bone.short bones in human skeleton. (shown in red). some sources classify patella as short bone and some don't.detailsidentifierslatinos breveta98a02.0.00.012ta2370fma7475anatomical terms of bone additional images short bones in human skeleton. (shown in red) classification of bones by shape.