How many vertebrae make up the human spine?

There are normally thirty-three vertebrae in humans, including the five that are fused to form the sacrum (the others are separated by intervertebral discs) and the four coccygeal bones which form the tailbone. The upper three regions comprise the remaining 24, and are grouped under the names cervical (7 vertebrae), thoracic (12 vertebrae) and lumbar (5 vertebrae), according to the regions they occupy.

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30 Comments

Brenda M. Morrissey

Cervical- 7 Thoracic- 12 Lumbar- 5 Sacrum- 5 Coccyx- 4 Fused or not- that comes to 33.

Marie Anisca Oral

You are a chiropractor? ...you better get your money back and go back to a real school before you go around calling yourself a chiropractor because Doc..The human spinal column is made up of 33 bones - 7 vertebrae in the cervical region, 12 in the thoracic region, 5 in the lumbar region, 5 in the sacral region and 4 in the coccygeal region.

Paul Ohearn

I love these questions because they increase my knowledge,

Ozie Martin

I could feel the correct answer in my spine and I got it right. Keep 'em coming QuizClub; I'm enjoying these questions as they continue to test my knowledge and memory. Thanks.

dmarkc

I was surprised not to see more controversy. It's a different number for adults (fused bones) and at birth.

Player

Wyla Reedy, humans and pretty much all mammals including the biggest of them all. No idea how you figure out the neck vertebrae on a whale though

Wyla Reedy

Humans and Giraffes have the same NUMBER of neck vertebrae. 7

earlepg

I never actually counted the vertebrae in my spine during my surgeries (1 cervical at C3 and 5 lumbar involving L3-5; 2 being fusions), but the pictures in the brochures indicate 33 of them.

Sally Onyett

I have at least 5 aching at the moment. Gardening..! 🙁

Michael W. Strode

The average person is born with 33 individual bones (the vertebrae) that interact and connect with each other through flexible joints called facets. By the time a person becomes an adult most have only 24 vertebrae because some vertebrae at the bottom end of the spine fuse together during normal growth and development.

Diane Herbert Wall

oops! Hit the wrong key.

John W Shreve

When my daughter was in nursing school, I had to quiz her on that stuff.

Louella Wilson

The question should read ask how many vertebae are humans born with? The fused bones are considered to be one, not separate bones. According to the Cedars-Sinai web site (and others), adults have 7 bones making the cervical spine; 12 making the thoracic spine; 5 making the lumbar spine.12 in total.