WELCOME TO

SUPPORT AND MOVEMENT IN

ANIMALS

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 INTRODUCTION
• All animals need to support there bodies and also
move about
• Most need a supporting framework called skeleton
• The adult skeleton consists of 206 bones.
• Children have more bones than adults because some
of the bones like those of the skull fuse together as
they grow.

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 Necessity of the skeletal system
• Support the body.
• Movement.
• Protecting soft parts of the body e.g. skull protect the brain, ribs
protect the heart and lungs, vertebral column to protect the
spinal cord, pelvis to protect the reproductive organs and
support the gut.
• Blood cell formation: both red and white cells are formed in bone
marrow.
• Storage for minerals like calcium and phosphorus for use by the
body.
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 Types of skeleton
• Three main types of skeleton exist namely:
➢Exoskeleton
➢Endoskeleton
➢Hydrostatic

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 EXOSKELETON
❑ Is an outer covering that
surrounds the body made
up of rigid and strong
material such as calcium
and chitin.
❑ Its mainly found in
arthropods e.g. spider
insect and crabs.

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SPIDER CRAB

SCORPION
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 ENDOSKELETON
▪ Internal skeleton
comprising of many
components that make
up the cartilage and
bones.
▪ It’s found in vertebrates
e.g. shark has an
endoskeleton made of
only cartilage.

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endoskeleton

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 HYDROSTATIC

❑ Its a soft body filled with

water and other body
fluids.

❑ Its found in earthworms

and caterpillars.

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Earthworm Snail

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STRUCTURE OF THE SKELETAL SYSTEM

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Functions of parts of the skeletal
system
• Skull-contains and protects the brain
• Vertebrae- support the appendicular and axial skeleton, protect the
spinal cord.
• A rib cage- protecting the thorax
• Limbs (arm and legs) and limbs girdles (shoulders and hips)-used for
support movement and locomotion.
• Bones –provide support
• Tendons- attach muscles and bones
• Ligaments- attach bones to bones.
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 Bone Structure
• A bone is a hard and strong living tissue consisting of living cells and
strong fibers made up of proteins called collagen.

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 Types of bone
• Long bones: they function as levers that are pushed by
muscular contractions. e.g. femur and humerus
• Short bones: almost equal in length width and have regular
form. They occur in wrist and ankle(carpels and tarsals)
• Flat bones: are thin and curved more often are flat. They
include ribs, scapula sternum and bone of cranium.
• Irregular bones: they include vertebral, face and hip bones.

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 cartilage
• It’s a flexible supportive tissue that is more
compressible than bone.
• It is found at the end of bones and between
vertebrae.
• Cartilages support structures such as nose and the ear
and also reduces the friction between articulating
bone surface.

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 Axial skeleton
Makes up the central axis of the body.
Consists of six parts ;
➢Skull
➢ossicles of middle ear
➢Vertebral column
➢Rib cage and sternum
➢Hyoid bone
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 The skull
This is the skeleton of the
head. It contains 22 bones
forming the cranium and facial
bones. Cranium is joined at
joints called sutures.
Facial bones consists of 14
bones like
➢Eye sockets
➢Nasal bones
➢Upper jaw bone
➢Lower jaw bone
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 Vertebrae column
It is the central axis of
skeleton. Its made up of
bones called vertebrae. In
human there are 33
vertebrae. The vertebrae are
separated from each other
by intervertebral disc.
➢protects the spinal cord
➢Permits movement of the
head

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 Cervical vertebrae
• Found at the neck region
• They are 7 in number
• The first two atlas and axis are distinct from the rest
of cervical vertebrae
• The atlas forms a joint which allows up and downward
movement of the head and nodding.

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 Thoracic vertebrae
• Found at the thorax region articulating with the ribs.
• Are 12 in number in human being.

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The ribcage

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 Lumbar vertebrae
• Found in the lumbar(stomach) region of the body.
• Are 5 in number in human being.
• Each vertebrae has a Large and broad centrum to offer support.

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Sacral and caudal vertebrae
• Are situated at the sacral region. Human being has 5
in number while rabbits have 4.
• They have large and broad centrum to offer support.
• Caudal vertebrae are found in the tail region. In
human the tail is vestigial.
• There are 4 caudal vertebrae fused to form coccyx.

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Caudal vertebrae

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The appendicular skeleton
➢ Connects the appendages to the axial
skeleton
➢ Consists of four parts:
❖ pectoral girdle
❖ Upper limbs
❖ Pelvic girdle
❖ Lower limbs
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Pectoral girdle

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UPPER LIMBS (arms)
• The arm consist of an upper
arm and forearm
• The upper arm has only one
bone called humerus.

HUMERUS
• It’s a single long bone
• Has head which articulate
with scapula.

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 ULNA AND RADIUS
Ulna is longer than radius
and is found on small finger
side.
While radius is found on
the thumb side. Each hand
consist of:
➢ Carpals 8
➢ Metacarpals 5
➢ Phalanges 14
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 Bones of hind limb
The pelvic girdle often known as the
hips is the point at which the legs join
the axial skeleton.
The pelvic consist of two halves fused
at pubic symphysis.
Each half is made up of three fused
bones namely:
a) Ilium
b) Ischium
c) Pubis

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 The femur

• Long bone found

between the hip and
knee.
• It’s the biggest bone in
the body.
• At the upper end of
femur it forms a ball and
socket joint with the
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 Other structures of the hind limb

▪ Tibia: is the main bone of the lower leg and larger than the fibula.
▪ Fibula: second bone in the lower leg found on the outer part of the
leg. It is a long narrow bone that is more important for muscle
attachment .
▪ Patella: it covers the front of the lowest end of the femur.
▪ Tarsals: are bones that make up the ankle.
▪ Metatarsals: bones that make up the middle area of foot.
▪ Phalanges; are bones that comprise the toes.

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HIND LIMB

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HIND LIMB

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 JOINTS

• A joint is a connection between two or more bones.

• There are various bones which permit varying degrees of movement.
• In mammals there are three main types of joints;
a)Immovable joints
b)Gliding joints
c) Movable joints/synovial joint.

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 Movable joints
• Are found at various parts of the body
• Are characterized by bones covered with cartilages at the ends
and bones held together by tough ligaments.
• The joint area is filled with synovial fluid.
• The joints are of two types:
a)Ball and socket
b) Hinge joint
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 BALL AND SOCKET JOINT
Type of joint with two bones one
with round head and the other
one with a depression onto which
the head of first bone fits and
moves freely.

Movement is possible in all

directions up to 360 degrees.

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HINGE JOINT
Are joints that allow
movement in only one
direction.
The maximum stretch is 180
degrees
Hinge joints are found at the
elbow, Knee and phalanges.

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 OTHER JOINTS

PIVOT JOINT
Joint formed by first vertebrae of
the vertebral column which allows
head to turn from side to side.

SADDLE JOINT
Found on the base of each finger
and allows one to rotate thumb
and finger to grasp objects.

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 SYNOVIAL FLUID
• Synovial fluid in joint reduces friction by lubricating
the joint.
• They are secreted by the surrounding synovial
membrane.
• The bones formed by these joints are held in place by
tough fibrous tissue called ligaments.
• Ligaments keep bones together but do not stop their
movements.
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MUSCLE SYSTEM

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 SKELETAL MUSCLES
• These are muscles attached to the skeleton and play a role in
movement/locomotion.
• They are striated or stripped muscles.
• There contraction is voluntary it can be made to contract and relax by conscious
to control nervous system.
• The muscle is made up of large number of long cylindrical cells called muscles
fibers or myofibrils.
• Each muscle has many nuclei and are covered by plasma membrane called
Sarcolemma. Examples of skeletal muscles are biceps and triceps.

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Examples of skeletal muscles

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 SMOOTH MUSCLES
• Consists of spindle shaped muscle cells with pointed
ends.
• Each muscle cell has one nucleus lying at its center.
• Their contraction is involuntary which means we have
no conscious control over them
• Contracts to cause peristatic movement of materials
inside the body organs e.g. contraction of the
alimentary canal wall.
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Smooth muscle

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 CARDIAC MUSCLES
• Made of fibers that form a network
• The cells have single nucleus
• They are striated
• Their contraction is involuntary e.g. heart muscles.

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WISH YOU WELL
PREPARED BY
J. N
END

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