Bone and Skull Anatomy Mnemonics: Carpal Bones, Cranial Bones, Sutures, and More

A ValueMD community study resource, originally shared on our forums and preserved here for students working through gross anatomy and osteology.

Skeletal anatomy is one of the most list-heavy parts of first-year anatomy: carpal bones, cranial bones, sutures, facial bones, and nerve branches all come in specific, testable sequences. The mnemonics below were contributed by the ValueMD student community to make those sequences stick.

Educational note: these are student-built memory aids for study purposes, not a substitute for your gross anatomy atlas or course material. A couple of entries below have been corrected or completed from the original forum thread for accuracy.

Causes of Back Pain: OVESALIUS

Named after the Flemish anatomist Andreas Vesalius, this acrostic lists common causes of back pain:

• Osteomyelitis
• Vertebral fracture
• Extraspinal tumor
• Spondylolisthesis
• Ankylosing spondylitis
• Lumbar disk disease
• Intraspinal tumor
• Unhappiness (psychological/functional factors)
• Stress fracture

Carpal (Wrist) Bones

Scared Lovers Try Positions That They Can’t Handle: starting from the thumb side, the eight carpal bones are Scaphoid, Lunate, Triquetrum, Pisiform, Trapezium, Trapezoid, Capitate, and Hamate.

A helpful way to tell the three “T” bones apart: Triquetrum contains “tri,” and Trapezium and Trapezoid fall in alphabetical order (Trapezium before Trapezoid, thumb side before pinky side).

An alternate version of the same mnemonic: Some Lovers Try Positions That They Can’t Handle.

(Reminder: carpal bones are in the wrist/hand, not the foot, the tarsal bones are the equivalent set in the foot.)

Cranial Bones: PEST OF 6

• Parietal
• Ethmoid
• Sphenoid
• Temporal
• Occipital
• Frontal

This covers the six types of cranial bones. The skull actually has eight individual cranial bones in total, since the parietal and temporal bones are paired (one on each side), while the frontal, ethmoid, sphenoid, and occipital are single, midline bones.

An alternate version of the same mnemonic: Old People From Texas Eat Spiders.

Cranial Sutures: CLASS

• Coronal
• Lambdoid
• And
• Squamous
• Sagittal

(The “A” is a filler word rather than a suture; the four major cranial sutures are Coronal, Lambdoid, Squamous, and Sagittal.)

Facial Bones

Con Man Max and Pal Ziggy Lack Nasty Voices: Conchae (nasal conchae), Mandible, Maxilla, Palatine, Zygomatic, Lacrimal, Nasal, Vomer.

Fontanels of the Infant Skull: PAPA

• Posterior
• Anterior
• Posterolateral (mastoid)
• Anterolateral (sphenoidal)

Types of Bone Fractures: Go C3PO

• Greenstick
• Open
• Complete
• Closed
• Comminuted
• Partial
• Other

Note that these terms describe several different, overlapping classification axes (open vs. closed, complete vs. partial, and specific patterns like greenstick or comminuted) rather than one single mutually exclusive list, so a real fracture is usually described using more than one of these terms at once (for example, “closed, comminuted”).

Lower Leg Bones: Tibia vs. Fibula

The Tibia is the Thick, Inner Bone. The Fibula is Finer, Fluted, and Lateral.

Bones of the Orbit: FLEZMS (Plus One)

• Frontal
• Lacrimal
• Ethmoid
• Zygomatic
• Maxilla
• Sphenoid

The orbit is actually formed by seven bones in total; the original mnemonic omits the palatine bone, which contributes a small portion of the posterior orbital floor. Keep FLEZMS as your starting point and add “plus the palatine” to complete the list.

Branches of the Facial Nerve (CN VII)

To Zanzibar By Motor Car, or alternatively, Two Zulus Bruised My Cervix: Temporal, Zygomatic, Buccal, Marginal mandibular, Cervical.

Cranial Nerves I Through XII: Sensory, Motor, or Both

Some Say Marry Money But My Brother Says Big Breasts Matter Most:

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Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the correct order of the carpal bones?
   Starting from the thumb side: Scaphoid, Lunate, Triquetrum, Pisiform (proximal row), then Trapezium, Trapezoid, Capitate, Hamate (distal row), remembered as “Scared Lovers Try Positions That They Can’t Handle.”
2. How many bones form the eye orbit?
   Seven: frontal, zygomatic, maxilla, ethmoid, lacrimal, sphenoid, and palatine.
3. What are the four major cranial sutures?
   Coronal, Lambdoid, Squamous, and Sagittal.
4. What are the five branches of the facial nerve?
   Temporal, Zygomatic, Buccal, Marginal mandibular, and Cervical, remembered as “To Zanzibar By Motor Car.”

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