Anatomy of the bone. The bone is made up of compact bone, spongy bone, and bone marrow. Compact bone makes up the outer layer of the bone. Spongy bone is found mostly at the ends of bones and contains red marrow. Bone marrow is found in the center of most bones and has many blood vessels. There are two types of bone marrow: red and yellow. Red marrow contains blood stem cells that can become red blood cells, white blood cells, or platelets. Yellow marrow is made mostly of fat.

The skeleton of an adult human consists of 206 bones. It is composed of 270 bones at birth, which decreases to 206 bones by adulthood after some bones have fused together.It consists of 80 bones in the axial skeleton (28 in the skull and 52 in the torso) and 126 bones in the appendicular skeleton (32 × 2 in the upper extremities including both arms and 31 × 2 in the lower extremities including both legs). Many small and often variable bones, such as some sesamoid bones, are not included in this count.

The number of bones in the skeleton changes with age, as multiple bones fuse, a process which typically reaches completion in the third decade of life. In addition, the bones of the skull and face are counted as separate bones, despite being fused naturally. Some reliable sesamoid bones such as the pisiform are counted, while others, such as the hallux sesamoids, are not.

Individuals may have more or fewer bones than this owing to anatomical variations. The most common variations include sutural (wormian) bones, which are located along the sutural lines on the back of the skull, and sesamoid bones which develop within some tendons, mainly in the hands and feet. Some individuals may also have additional (i.e. supernumerary) cervical ribs or lumbar vertebrae.