Category Archives: Hand

Osteology Everywhere: London Tube Edition

Posted on November 22, 2017 by JB

My parents visited me last week (Hi Mom!). On Sunday we struck out for London, so that they could see West End shows, eat at fancy restaurants, and attend tennis tournaments. Apparently, the near constant threat of a cycle collision … Continue reading →

Posted in Hand, Osteology Everywhere | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Identifying the Metacarpals in Three Easy Steps

Posted on February 8, 2015 by JB

This week I have come to three important realizations. 1. I am terrible at drawing the bones of the hand. I can spend ages working feverishly on intricate drawings of articular surfaces, and the finished product still basically comes out looking … Continue reading →

Posted in Hand, Osteology | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Gotta hand it to you: identifying manual and pedal phalanges

Posted on June 4, 2014 by JB

At the AAPAs, the Bone Clones table was handing out free phalanx keychains, and when I received mine I had to double-check whether it was manual or pedal. This led me to review White and Folkens’ section on the phalanges, … Continue reading →

Posted in Foot, Hand, Osteology | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Thumbs Up: The muscles that insert on the thumb

Posted on October 6, 2013 by JB

Bernard Wood recently came to give a talk at Michigan.  While he was discussing  the utility of the concept of genus for thinking about human evolution, he mentioned something I found interesting.  Wood referenced a research project on anatomical homologies … Continue reading →

Posted in Anatomy, Hand, Muscle Attachments | Tagged | 1 Comment

OsteoMenagerie 5: The pisiform

Posted on August 2, 2013 by JB

The pisiform is one of the smallest bones you’re likely to come across when dealing with archaeological remains (though I once found one of the auditory ossicles when excavating a commingled burial site in Portugal – that was an exciting … Continue reading →

Posted in Carpals, Hand, Osteology, OsteoMenagerie | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

OsteoMenagerie 4: The Capitate

Posted on July 4, 2013 by JB

Like all carpals, the capitate possesses a distinctive, irregular shape that makes it easy to identify and side. Unlike the other carpals, however, the capitate happens to look like one of the most notorious villains in cinematic history: Lord Voldemort…Just checking that … Continue reading →

Posted in Carpals, Hand, OsteoMenagerie, Siding Tricks | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

In Honor of the “Super Moon” – Identifying and siding the lunate

Posted on June 28, 2013 by JB

Last week marked the arrival of the “super moon”, the rare coincidence of a full moon phase with the point in its orbit at which the lunar body is closest to the Earth. In order, no doubt, to stimulate public … Continue reading →

Posted in Carpals, Hand, Osteology, Siding Tricks | Tagged , | 2 Comments

OsteoMenagerie 2: The Scaphoid

Posted on May 7, 2013 by JB

For this week’s edition of OsteoMenagerie, we have the scaphoid, a bone of the wrist that clearly looks like a snail. Appropriately given last week’s OsteoMenagerie, another term for the scaphoid is the navicular, because it is similarly positioned to … Continue reading →

Posted in Carpals, Hand, OsteoMenagerie, Siding Tricks | Tagged , | 2 Comments