Which animal alive today has the most bones in its body?

What-A-Mess

Dog: 321 on average. Snake: around 500 vertebra. Human: 206 as an Adult. "The adult skeleton (Fig. 8.22) consists of 206 bones: 28 skull bones (8 cranial, 14 facial, and 6 ear ossicles); the horseshoe-shaped hyoid bone of the neck (which breaks during hanging, choking the victim to death; see Figure 8.11); 26 vertebrae (7 cervical or neck, 12 thorax, 5 lumbar or loins, the sacrum which is five fused vertebrae, and the coccyx, our vestigial tail, which is four fused vertebrae); 24 ribs plus the sternum or breastbone; the shoulder girdle (2 clavicles, the most frequently fractured bone in the body, and 2 scapulae); the pelvic girdle (2 fused bones); and 30 bones in each of the four extremities (a total of 120). The paired bones include the 12 ribs on either side, 8 wrist bones, 5 hand bones, 14 finger bones, 7 ankle bones, 5 foot bones, 14 toe bones, 3 auditory ossicles, and the parietal, temporal, palatine, lacrimal, nasal, upper jaw, cheek, lower nasal concha, collarbone, shoulder blade, hip, arm, outer and inner forearm, thigh, kneecap, calf, and shin bones. There are also a variable number of sesamoid bones, ranging from 8-18 in number, which are small rounded masses embedded in certain tendons and usually related to joints." http://www.nanomedicine.com/NMI/8.2.4.htm http://www.nanomedicine.com/NMI/8.2.4.htm Feb 17 07, 2:17 PM