Structure

• The axial skeleton is composed of five parts. These parts are the skull, the ossicles of the ear, the hyoid bone of the throat, the rib cage and the vertebral column.
  
  

Skull and Ossicles

• The skull contains 22 of the 80 bones in the axial skeleton, with another six contained in the ossicles of the ear. The ossicles of the ear are the smallest bones in the human body. They serve to transmit sound to the cochlea.
  
  

Rib Cage, Hyoid and Vertebral Column

• The chest contains 25 bones, the sternum and 24 ribs. The hyoid bone is a U-shaped bone in the neck that anchors the tongue. The vertebral column contains 26 bones.