Irregular Bones

An irregular bone is one of the types of bones classified by shape.

Irregular bones have complicated shapes that cannot be classified as "long", "short" or "flat". Their shapes are due to the functions they fulfill within the body e.g. providing major mechanical support for the body yet also protecting the spinal cord (in the case of the vertebrae).

Examples:

• Atlas bone
• Axis bone
  and other vertebrae
• Hyoid bone
• Sphenoid bone
• Zygomatic bones
  and other facial bones.

The following books may also be of interest:

This section is about
Bone Types, i.e. the different shapes of bones.
To read about the other shapes of bones use the links on the left-side of this page or see Types of Bones (all on 1 page).