Osteology

The osteology (from the Greek osteon = bone, logos = doctrine ) is the study of the bone or the skeletal system. The osteology also deals with the comparison of skeletal systems. It is a part of anthropology, zoology, archeology, paleontology and medicine and anatomy.

Applications

• Reconstruction of organisms: Based on the bones can reconstruct the organisms to a certain degree. By the bone by various methods the decomposed soft tissues are substituted, the appearance of an organism roughly can be restored. In this way, extinct animals and humans can be reconstructed. In forensics, this is also used to identify approximately skeletons of unknown individuals.
• Identification: On the basis of certain characteristics of the bone, these in the biol. Systematics lane. It is also possible age, gender, to determine geographic origin and disease. This is particularly well studied in humans.
• Systematics: Using certain features of the bone can classify organisms in the biological system. This is the basis for this also to be able to identify correctly (see above).
• Diseases of the skeletal system: In medicine, osteology busy at the intersection between orthopedics and endocrinology with the physiological structure of the bones as well as with the processes of bone metabolism - or whose disease. This task is now one of the largest space within the osteology. Mainly it comes to research into the causes and potential therapies of diseases such as osteoporosis, Osteitis deformans, but also rarer diseases such as osteogenesis imperfecta, FOP, or hypophosphatasia.