Darin Croft
Darin Croft

Anatomy’s Darin Croft explains why adults have nearly 100 fewer bones than when they are born

Babies are born with 300 bones but most adults have 206. Where do they go?
The Toledo BladeDarin Croft, professor of anatomy, explained why adults have nearly 100 fewer bones than when they were born. “People are surprised that babies have more bones and adults have fewer,” he said. “It’s the cartilage that really grows. The bones can grow, but they can only grow on the outside, and cartilage, it can expand also from the middle, and that’s what are informally called growth plates.”