Question: would we be able to live if we did not have bones if so how would things be differently

Michael Rivera answered on 16 Nov 2016:

Lauren’s right! Our skeleton exists for many reasons:

Bones protect our vital organs – think of your ribs that protect your heart and lungs, your skull that protects your brain and your hips that protect your intestines

Our bones also keep us upright – especially our backbone! Our legs support our body weight and make sure we can stand up!

Skeletons work together with the muscular system so that we can move. Muscles need to attach to something, so they attach to bones – and it is the extension and contraction of muscles that pulls our bones here and there, allowing us to move.

Our bones also contain juicy bone marrow – bone marrow makes the red blood cells in our body, vital for us to be able to carry oxygen and nutrients from the heart to every cell in the body.

Without bones, we would just collapse into a soft-tissued, flat on the ground, unmoving, breathless jelly-like mass. I don’t think we would be able to live! If we were able to, I imagine our biology would be radically different, maybe like the biology of a jellyfish!

Michael 🙂