Why Do Babies Have More Bones Than Adults? - Science ABC

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A baby has more bones than an adult because the baby’s cartilage will eventually turn into bone. This happens through a process called endochondral ossification. As the baby grows, cartilage is replaced by bone matrices. This is the reason why adults have fewer bones than babies.

For those of you who don’t know this already, the fact that babies have more bones than adults might come as a big surprise. Your shock is pretty justifiable; if you’ve ever held a baby in your arms, you have probably been amazed at how soft their bodies are. Given that, it seems almost impossible that those small limbs, head, and torso could house more bones than the body of an adult. Adults also tend to feel quite ‘bony’, so this fact is definitely a weird one.

The question is, why do adults tend to have fewer bones than babies? Where do the extra bones go?

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Why Do Babies Have More Bones Than Adults?

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