CONCLUSION

The human body is an amazing machine. Not only do the skeletal and muscular systems protect and support the body, but they are also perfectly adapted for bipedal motion. Human bones are the scaffolding for the muscles, tendons, and ligaments that allow our bodies to walk, swim, pirouette, run, and scale mountains. Our dexterity and physical strength is further aided by all the specialized joints that occur between the bone of the skeleton. It is amazing, too, that the bones and muscles are not fixed or static. Growth and development does not stop after childhood. There is a lifelong conversation happening between the body, the brain, and the bones and muscles that causes bone and muscle to continue to adapt to the body’s needs. Bone is built and absorbed; broken bones can regenerate and heal themselves. Muscle in use responds by becoming stronger, while muscles that are not working atrophy. Illnesses in the bones and muscles can disrupt these processes, but the body machine is no less awe-inspiring.

Without our specialized systems of bone and muscle, we would be walking on all fours or swinging in the trees. The unique adaptations of the human skeletal and muscle systems have catapulted us to the top of the food chain and opened up entire worlds through the ability to create and use tools, which in turn has caused our brains to develop in different ways. Thus, the evolution of human bone and muscle has played a significant part in defining our species as it exists today.