Bone still cartilaginous. The following steps are followed in the conversion of cartilage to bone: Bones have a variety of functions: Bones serve a variety of mechanical functions. Together the bones in the body form the skeleton. They provide a frame to keep the body supported, and an attachment point for skeletal muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints, which function together to generate and transfer forces so that individual body parts or the whole body can be manipulated in three-dimensional space (the interaction between bone and muscle is studied in biomechanics). Bones protect internal organs, such as the skull protecting the brain
Second metacarpal bone Second metacarpal bone The second metacarpal bone (metacarpal bone of the index finger) is the longest, and its base the largest, of all the metacarpal bones. Its base is prolonged upward and medialward, forming a prominent ridge. It presents four articular facets, three on the upper surface and one on the ulnar side: The extensor carpi radialis longus muscle is inserted on the dorsal surface and the flexor carpi radialis muscle on the volar surface of the base. The shaft gives origin to the first palmar interosseus and the first and second dorsal interossei. This bone is often the most