What type of bone are the tibia and fibula?
Question:
What type of bone are the tibia and fibula?
Our Internal Framework:
Our bones make up our skeleton, which is the internal framework for our body. Our skeleton allows all of the soft parts of our body to have support and structure. Specific bones are located in certain areas of the body, and they attach to muscles and connective tissue in order to allow us to move.
Answer and Explanation: 1
The tibia and fibula are the two long bones of the lower leg. The tibia is the larger bone of the two and is also called the shin bone. The tibia connects the knee with the ankle, and also connects at the knee joint with the bone of the upper leg, the femur. The tibia runs down the front of the lower leg and is the second largest bone in the body. Because of its location, the tibia is responsible for supporting a large amount of body weight. Fractures, or breaks to this bone are much more common than fractures to the fibula.
The fibula is a much thinner long bone that also runs from the knee to the ankle, but it is not part of the knee joint. It is also known as the calf bone. The fibula is located behind and on the outside of the tibia, and provides stability to the ankle joint but does not support body weight like the tibia. These bones are called long bones because they have a shaft and two ends, and provide support and stability for the body.
Learn more about this topic:
from
Chapter 5 / Lesson 9Learn about leg bone anatomy, including general leg anatomy, the names of major leg bones, and the location and function of each bone.