Hand by the ability to be brought opposite to the fingers, a muscle action known as opposition. The skeleton of the human hand consists of 27 bones: the eight short carpal bones of the wrist are organized into a proximal row (scaphoid, lunate, triquetral and pisiform) which articulates with the bones of the forearm, and a distal row (trapezium, trapezoid, capitate and hamate), which articulates with the bases of the five metacarpal bones of the hand. The heads of the metacarpals will each in turn articulate with the bases of the proximal phalanx of the fingers and thumb. These articulations with
Hamate bone of the hand. The ossification of the hamate starts between 1 and 12 months. The hamate does not fully ossify until about the 15th year of life. The bone is also found in many other mammals, and is homologous with the "fourth distal carpal" of reptiles and amphibians. The carpal bones function as a unit to provide a bony superstructure for the hand. The hamate bone is the bone most commonly fractured when a golfer hits the ground hard with a golf club on the downswing or a hockey player hits the ice with a slap shot. The fracture is