Harvard Human Anatomy - Bones

Skeleton: The body part that forms the supporting structure of an organism.

Appendicular skeleton: Composed of 126 bones in the human body, this division of the human skeleton includes the bones of the upper and lower limbs.

Axial skeleton: The portion of the human skeleton that consists of the bones of the head and the trunk. 

Appendicular lower limbs: These include the hipbone (the fused ilium, ischium, and pubis), the lower limb girdle, the thigh (femur), knee (patella), the crus and the ankle (including tibia and fibula), proximal foot, and distal foot (tarsals, metatarsals, phalanges).

Appendicular upper limbs: Includes the upper limb girdle (including the clavicle, scapula), the arm (brachium; with the humerus), the forearm (antebrachium, including radius and ulna), the wrist, and the hand (carpals, metacarpals, phalanges).

Compressive stress: Force directed toward an object. Compressive stress can be represented with the following image:

Tensile stress: Force directed away from an object. Tensile stress can be represented with the following image:

Combination of tensile and compressive stress: Also called shear or bending stress, it can be represented with the following image:

Endoskeleton: The internal support structure of an animal, composed of mineralized tissue.

Exoskeleton: External structures found in many invertebrates, they enclose and protect the soft tissues and organs of the body.

Failure: Occurs when the force applied to a material exceeds its strength. Bone manifests failure by fracturing. Cartilage, muscle, connective tissue, and nervous tissue manifest failure by tearing.

Resilience: The capacity of a material to recover its original shape after deformation.