Humerus Labeling Quiz: Test Upper Arm Bone Anatomy
Quick, free humerus anatomy quiz with instant feedback and study tips.
Editorial: Review CompletedUpdated Aug 23, 2025
This quiz helps you label the humerus, spot key landmarks, and check what to study next. Work through 20 quick questions, get instant feedback, and strengthen your upper limb basics. Want more practice? Try our humerus quiz, review shoulder connections in the pectoral girdle labeling quiz, or build context with the appendicular skeleton labeling quiz.
Study Outcomes
- Identify the key anatomical landmarks of the clavicle.
- Label the essential regions of the clavicle accurately.
- Explain the functional role of the clavicle in the human skeletal system.
- Apply anatomical knowledge to differentiate between normal and variant clavicle structures.
- Assess how the clavicle interacts with adjacent bones during movement.
Humerus & Scapula Labeling Cheat Sheet
- The humerus: the upper limb's superstar - Meet the longest bone in your arm, stretching from the shoulder to the elbow and giving your arm its length and strength. It forms the ball-and-socket glenohumeral joint with the scapula up top and locks with the radius and ulna down below.
- Proximal landmarks: head, necks, and tubercles - Up at the shoulder end, the humeral head, anatomical neck, greater tubercle, lesser tubercle, and surgical neck each have a role in muscle attachment and joint stability. The greater tubercle anchors the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, and teres minor, helping you rotate and lift your arm.
- Bicipital groove and the lesser tubercle - The lesser tubercle sits on the front side, where the subscapularis muscle snugs in. Just beside it, the intertubercular sulcus (aka bicipital groove) houses the long head of the biceps tendon, making it a busy little channel.
- Shaft features: deltoid tuberosity & radial groove - Travel down the humerus shaft and you'll find the deltoid tuberosity on the lateral side, where your deltoid muscle crashes the party. On the back, the radial groove shelters the radial nerve and profunda brachii artery, so it's highway real estate for neurovascular bundles.
- Distal showdown: capitulum, trochlea & epicondyles - At the elbow end, the capitulum meets the radius while the trochlea grooves with the ulna, creating your hinge motion. Flanking them, the medial and lateral epicondyles serve as anchor points for all the flexors and extensors of your forearm.
- Fossae functions: olecranon and coronoid - On the back of the distal humerus, the olecranon fossa offers a snug landing spot for the ulna's olecranon during extension. Up front, the coronoid fossa gives the coronoid process room to flex, ensuring you can hinge your arm without a hitch.
- Major muscle hangouts - The intertubercular sulcus is the ultimate clubhouse for the pectoralis major, latissimus dorsi, and teres major. Remember "a lady between two majors": latissimus dorsi sits right between teres major and pectoralis major.
- Surgical neck: nerve and vessel hotspot - Fractures around the surgical neck can spell trouble for the axillary nerve and posterior circumflex humeral artery, potentially causing deltoid paralysis and numbness over your lateral shoulder. Always think "surgical neck = careful repair zone."
- Radial groove & wrist drop link - The radial nerve courses through the radial groove on the humeral shaft; a mid-shaft break can injure it and lead to wrist drop (hello, floppy wrist!). Understanding this pathway helps prevent nerve damage in humeral fractures.
- Clinical significance: landmarks, injuries & surgeries - Knowing every bump, groove, and fossa on the humerus is crucial for spotting muscle attachment sites, tracing nerve routes, and planning surgical approaches. From CPR landmarks to fracture repairs, this bone is your anatomical roadmap.
