Anatomy Trivia Questions and Answers for the Whole Body

Ten rounds on the human body, from the stirrup bone of the ear to 86 billion neurons.

Question 1 of 191

Which artery, the largest in the body, leaves the left ventricle of the heart?

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Anatomy Trivia Questions and Answers for the Whole Body: how it works

Which bone is shaped like a stirrup, and which nerve is named for wandering? These 191 human anatomy trivia questions and answers run in ten rounds, system by system. Tap a choice, press Check answer, and read why. It is a quiz, not medical information.

Pick a body system, then a level

Set Topic to one of ten rounds: Skeleton, Muscles, Heart and blood, Lungs and breathing, Brain and nerves, Eyes, ears and senses, Digestion and teeth, Skin, hair and nails, Cells and DNA or Glands, kidneys and growth. Show only keeps Easy, 99 on everyday parts such as the kneecap, or Hard, the 92 hardest anatomy questions: the sinoatrial node, the arrector pili, the islets of Langerhans.

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Host a round fills the screen with one question, waits for Show the answer, and tallies two to six teams. A study group that wants human body trivia questions with answers on paper can press Print question sheet for the next 20 of the chosen system, then Print answer key for the reasons.

Tips

  • The word origins stick best: the coccyx is named for a cuckoo, the hippocampus for a seahorse, the uvula for a little grape.
  • Learning the names for a course? Work through one system a day, then open Missed to meet the ones that did not stick.

Questions and answers

Is this medical information?

No. It is a quiz of names, counts, places and jobs in the body, written for game nights and revision. It gives no health advice, describes no symptoms and lists no test values.

How hard is the Hard level?

It asks for the names a first anatomy course teaches: the atlas vertebra, the mitral valve, the three meninges, the fovea, the jejunum. Easy stays with parts most people can point to, such as the shinbone, the iris and the epiglottis.

How is this different from the science trivia for kids?

That page has a short body round written for children. This pack is for adults and students: ten systems, a Hard level and the Latin and Greek behind the names. The biology pack leaves the human body out, so nothing repeats between them.

Where do the answers come from?

Each answer, and each fact in the reason under it, was read on September 19, 2026 in the Wikipedia article linked below the question. Records that sources dispute, such as the strongest bone, are left out.

All 191 questions

Skeleton 20

  • A baby is born with around 270 bones, and some fuse together during growth. About how many does an adult have? Wikipedia: Human skeleton; Wikipedia: Accessory bone
  • A tendon joins muscle to bone. What does a ligament join? Wikipedia: Ligament
  • Bumping your "funny bone" does not hit a bone at all. What does it hit? Wikipedia: Ulnar nerve
  • The clavicle is the only long bone in the body that lies in which direction? Wikipedia: Clavicle
  • Each finger has three bones. How many does the thumb have? Wikipedia: Phalanx bone
  • The first vertebra of the neck, which supports the skull, is named after which figure of Greek myth? Wikipedia: Atlas (anatomy)
  • From the top down, how many cervical, thoracic and lumbar vertebrae does the spine have? Wikipedia: Vertebral column
  • The Greek word for which bird gave the coccyx, or tailbone, its name? Wikipedia: Coccyx
  • The hip and the shoulder are both examples of which type of joint? Wikipedia: Ball-and-socket joint
  • How many carpal bones make up each wrist? Wikipedia: Carpal bones; Wikipedia: Tarsus (skeleton); Wikipedia: Calcaneus
  • The human skull is generally counted as how many bones? Wikipedia: Skull
  • The last two pairs of ribs are called floating ribs. How many pairs of ribs are there in all? Wikipedia: Rib cage
  • The smallest and lightest bone in the body is shaped like a stirrup. Where is it? Wikipedia: Stapes
  • The sternum is a long flat bone, shaped roughly like a necktie. What is it usually called? Wikipedia: Sternum
  • The thigh holds a single bone, the longest in the body. What is it called? Wikipedia: Femur
  • What is the everyday name for the patella? Wikipedia: Patella
  • What is the only bone of the skull that can move? Wikipedia: Mandible
  • What is the term for the making of new blood cells, which goes on in the bone marrow? Wikipedia: Bone marrow
  • Which bone is commonly called the shinbone? Wikipedia: Tibia
  • Which horseshoe-shaped bone in the neck is the only bone in the body not connected to any other bone? Wikipedia: Hyoid bone

Muscles 21

  • The body has three types of muscle tissue. Skeletal and smooth are two. What is the third? Wikipedia: Muscle; Wikipedia: Cardiac muscle
  • The deltoid muscle is named for its likeness to a Greek capital letter. Where is the muscle? Wikipedia: Deltoid muscle
  • How many heads does the biceps have? Wikipedia: Biceps
  • How many muscles does the human tongue have? Wikipedia: Tongue
Show all 191 questions (167 more)

Muscles, continued

  • How many muscles make up the hamstrings at the back of each thigh? Wikipedia: Hamstring
  • How many muscles make up the rotator cuff of the shoulder? Wikipedia: Rotator cuff
  • The largest muscle in the body gives the buttocks their shape. What is it called? Wikipedia: Gluteus maximus
  • The longest muscle in the body is the sartorius. Where does it run? Wikipedia: Sartorius muscle
  • The masseter is one of the strongest muscles of its group. What job does it do? Wikipedia: Masseter muscle
  • The name gastrocnemius comes from Greek words meaning "stomach of the leg". Which bulge does the muscle form? Wikipedia: Gastrocnemius muscle
  • The pectoralis major is the main muscle of which part of the body? Wikipedia: Pectoralis major
  • The quadriceps is a group of four muscles. Where is it? Wikipedia: Quadriceps
  • The smallest skeletal muscle in the body is just over a millimeter long. Which tiny bone does it steady? Wikipedia: Stapedius muscle
  • Smooth muscle works without conscious control. Where is it found? Wikipedia: Smooth muscle
  • What does the Latin name latissimus dorsi mean? Wikipedia: Latissimus dorsi muscle
  • Which dome-shaped sheet of muscle separates the chest from the abdomen? Wikipedia: Thoracic diaphragm
  • Which muscle on the back of the upper arm straightens the elbow? Wikipedia: Triceps
  • Which paired muscle of the abdomen is informally called the six-pack? Wikipedia: Rectus abdominis muscle
  • Which tendon, the thickest in the body, attaches the calf muscles to the heel bone? Wikipedia: Achilles tendon
  • Which two proteins form the thick and the thin filaments of a sarcomere? Wikipedia: Sarcomere
  • The word muscle comes from the Latin musculus. Which small animal does that word name? Wikipedia: Muscle

Heart and blood 21

  • A group of pacemaker cells sets the rhythm of the heartbeat. Where in the heart are they? Wikipedia: Heart
  • Arteries carry blood away from the heart. Which vessels carry it back toward the heart? Wikipedia: Vein; Wikipedia: Artery
  • The human heart has upper chambers called atria and lower ones called ventricles. How many chambers is that in all? Wikipedia: Heart
  • The jugular veins bring blood back to the heart from which part of the body? Wikipedia: Jugular vein; Wikipedia: Carotid artery
  • The mitral valve of the heart is named after the headdress of which kind of person? Wikipedia: Mitral valve
  • Most arteries carry blood rich in oxygen. Which artery carries blood that has given its oxygen up? Wikipedia: Pulmonary artery; Wikipedia: Pulmonary vein
  • The two large veins that return blood from the body to the heart share a Latin name meaning "hollow veins". What is it? Wikipedia: Venae cavae
  • What does a mature human red blood cell lack that most cells of the body have? Wikipedia: Red blood cell
  • What is the double-walled sac that contains the heart called? Wikipedia: Pericardium
  • What is the liquid part of blood called? Wikipedia: Blood plasma
  • Where in the body are red blood cells made? Wikipedia: Red blood cell
  • Which artery, the largest in the body, leaves the left ventricle of the heart? Wikipedia: Aorta
  • Which blood cells are part of the immune system and protect the body against infection? Wikipedia: White blood cell
  • Which blood vessels are the smallest in the body, with walls a single layer of cells thick? Wikipedia: Capillary
  • Which chamber of the heart pumps blood out to the whole body through the aorta? Wikipedia: Ventricle (heart)
  • Which English physician described the circulation of the blood in De Motu Cordis, published in 1628? Wikipedia: William Harvey
  • Which iron-containing substance gives red blood cells their color and carries oxygen? Wikipedia: Red blood cell
  • Which organ acts mainly as a blood filter, removing old red blood cells and recycling their iron? Wikipedia: Spleen
  • Which part of the blood reacts to a damaged vessel by starting a clot? Wikipedia: Platelet
  • Which vessels supply blood to the heart muscle itself? Wikipedia: Coronary circulation
  • Who discovered the ABO blood types in 1901? Wikipedia: ABO blood group system

Lungs and breathing 15

  • A hiccup is an involuntary contraction of which muscle? Wikipedia: Hiccup
  • The Adam's apple is formed by the angle of which cartilage? Wikipedia: Adam's apple
  • How many lobes do the right lung and the left lung have? Wikipedia: Lung
  • In which tiny air sacs of the lungs is oxygen exchanged for carbon dioxide? Wikipedia: Pulmonary alveolus; Wikipedia: Lung
  • What are the two fluid-filled sacs that surround the lungs called? Wikipedia: Pulmonary pleurae; Wikipedia: Lung
  • What does the inside of the nose do to air on its way to the lungs? Wikipedia: Nasal cavity
  • What is the everyday name for the trachea? Wikipedia: Trachea
  • What is the larynx commonly called? Wikipedia: Larynx
  • Where are the intercostal muscles, which move the chest wall during breathing? Wikipedia: Intercostal muscles; Wikipedia: Rib
  • Which folds in the throat are open for breathing and vibrate for speech and singing? Wikipedia: Vocal cords
  • Which leaf-shaped flap in the throat stops food and water from entering the windpipe? Wikipedia: Epiglottis
  • Which part of the throat lies behind the mouth and the nasal cavity? Wikipedia: Pharynx; Wikipedia: Larynx
  • Which tiny hair-like structures line the airways and sweep mucus away from the lungs? Wikipedia: Cilium
  • Which waste gas does the body get rid of each time it breathes out? Wikipedia: Breathing
  • The windpipe divides into two main bronchi. How does the right one compare with the left? Wikipedia: Bronchus

Brain and nerves 20

  • A 16th-century anatomist named the hippocampus of the brain after which sea creature? Wikipedia: Hippocampus
  • The brain is one half of the central nervous system. What is the other half? Wikipedia: Central nervous system; Wikipedia: Spinal cord
  • The brainstem has three parts. The midbrain and the pons are two of them. What is the third? Wikipedia: Brainstem; Wikipedia: Medulla oblongata
  • Broca's area of the brain is linked to which ability? Wikipedia: Broca's area
  • How many membranes, called the meninges, wrap the brain? Wikipedia: Meninges
  • How many pairs of cranial nerves are there by the usual count? Wikipedia: Cranial nerves
  • How many pairs of spinal nerves does the human body have? Wikipedia: Spinal nerve
  • The name cerebellum is Latin for "little brain". What is its best-established job? Wikipedia: Cerebellum
  • The occipital lobe handles what the eyes see. Where is it? Wikipedia: Occipital lobe
  • Roughly how many neurons does the human brain contain? Wikipedia: Human brain
  • The uppermost region of the brain is also its largest part. What is it called? Wikipedia: Cerebrum
  • The vagus nerve takes its name from a Latin word with which meaning? Wikipedia: Vagus nerve
  • What does the clear, colorless fluid around the brain and spinal cord do? Wikipedia: Cerebrospinal fluid
  • Which almond-sized part of the brain controls body temperature, hunger and thirst? Wikipedia: Hypothalamus
  • Which band of nerve fibers connects the left and right halves of the cerebrum? Wikipedia: Corpus callosum
  • Which fatty substance wraps around nerve fibers and speeds up their signals? Wikipedia: Myelin
  • Which is the largest lobe of the brain? Wikipedia: Frontal lobe
  • Which is the longest and widest single nerve in the human body? Wikipedia: Sciatic nerve
  • Which kind of cell has an axon and dendrites and passes signals across synapses? Wikipedia: Neuron
  • Why is the surface of the human brain folded? Wikipedia: Cerebral cortex

Eyes, ears and senses 21

  • The cochlea of the inner ear is involved in hearing. Which animal is it shaped like? Wikipedia: Cochlea
  • The Eustachian tube links the middle ear to which other part of the body? Wikipedia: Eustachian tube
  • Every eye has a blind spot. What passes through the retina at that point? Wikipedia: Blind spot (vision)
  • How many semicircular canals does each inner ear have? Wikipedia: Semicircular canals
  • How many types of cone cell does the human eye normally have for seeing color? Wikipedia: Cone cell
  • Light enters the eye through a clear layer at the very front. What is that layer called? Wikipedia: Cornea
  • On average, about how many taste buds does a human tongue have? Wikipedia: Taste bud
  • The retina has two main kinds of light-detecting cell. Which kind is almost entirely responsible for night vision? Wikipedia: Rod cell
  • Sweet, sour, salty and bitter are four of the basic tastes. What is the fifth? Wikipedia: Taste bud
  • The three tiny bones of the middle ear are nicknamed the hammer, the anvil and the what? Wikipedia: Ossicles
  • What do the lacrimal glands make? Wikipedia: Lacrimal gland
  • What is the main job of the eyebrows? Wikipedia: Eyebrow
  • What is the proper name for the eardrum? Wikipedia: Eardrum
  • What is the proper name for the white of the eye? Wikipedia: Sclera
  • What is the pupil of the eye? Wikipedia: Pupil
  • Where is the patch of tissue that detects smells? Wikipedia: Olfactory epithelium
  • Which colored ring in the eye controls the size of the pupil? Wikipedia: Iris (anatomy)
  • Which light-sensitive layer lines the inside of the eye? Wikipedia: Retina
  • Which sense tells you where your arms and legs are without looking? Wikipedia: Proprioception
  • Which small pit in the center of the retina gives sharp central vision? Wikipedia: Fovea centralis
  • Who identified umami as a distinct taste in 1908? Wikipedia: Umami

Digestion and teeth 18

  • The appendix is sometimes called vermiform. What does that Latin word mean? Wikipedia: Appendix (anatomy)
  • How many permanent teeth does an adult usually have? Wikipedia: Human tooth
  • Human saliva is mostly made of what? Wikipedia: Saliva
  • Humans grow two sets of teeth. How many teeth are in the first set? Wikipedia: Human tooth
  • In order, what are the three regions of the small intestine? Wikipedia: Small intestine
  • Swallowed food goes down a muscular tube about 25 centimeters long to reach the stomach. What is the tube called? Wikipedia: Esophagus
  • The uvula hangs from the soft palate at the back of the mouth. What does its Latin name mean? Wikipedia: Palatine uvula
  • What does the large intestine mainly absorb from what is left of a meal? Wikipedia: Large intestine
  • What is the name for the partly digested food that leaves the stomach? Wikipedia: Stomach
  • What is the name for the waves of muscle contraction that push food along the digestive tract? Wikipedia: Peristalsis; Wikipedia: Esophagus
  • Which acid is found in the gastric juice of the stomach? Wikipedia: Stomach
  • Which are the largest of the salivary glands? Wikipedia: Parotid gland
  • Which finger-like projections line the small intestine and increase its surface for absorbing food? Wikipedia: Intestinal villus
  • Which fluid, made by the liver, helps to break up the fat in food? Wikipedia: Liver
  • Which is the heaviest internal organ and the largest gland in the human body? Wikipedia: Liver
  • Which organ behind the stomach makes both digestive juice and the hormone insulin? Wikipedia: Pancreas
  • Which small pear-shaped organ under the liver stores bile? Wikipedia: Gallbladder
  • Which tissue, 96 percent mineral, is the hardest substance in the human body? Wikipedia: Tooth enamel

Skin, hair and nails 18

  • About how fast does a fingernail grow? Wikipedia: Nail (anatomy)
  • Cells called melanocytes make the pigment that colors skin and hair. What is the pigment? Wikipedia: Melanin; Wikipedia: Melanocyte
  • Do identical twins have identical fingerprints? Wikipedia: Fingerprint
  • The hypodermis, the layer beneath the skin, is a major store of what? Wikipedia: Subcutaneous tissue
  • The navel, or belly button, is a scar. What was once attached there? Wikipedia: Navel
  • The pale crescent at the base of a fingernail is the lunula. What does the Latin name mean? Wikipedia: Lunula (anatomy)
  • The skin has three main layers. The epidermis is on top and the hypodermis at the bottom. What lies between them? Wikipedia: Human skin; Wikipedia: Dermis
  • Two types of melanin set the color of human hair. Eumelanin gives black or brown. What does pheomelanin give? Wikipedia: Human hair color
  • Ultraviolet B light lets the deeper layers of the epidermis make which vitamin? Wikipedia: Vitamin D
  • What are freckles? Wikipedia: Freckle
  • What is the outermost layer of the epidermis called? Wikipedia: Stratum corneum; Wikipedia: Human skin
  • What is the surface area of the skin of an average adult? Wikipedia: Human skin
  • What is unusual about the supply to the epidermis, the outer layer of the skin? Wikipedia: Epidermis
  • What oily substance do the sebaceous glands release to lubricate hair and skin? Wikipedia: Sebaceous gland
  • Where on the body are sweat glands packed most densely? Wikipedia: Sweat gland
  • Which is the most abundant protein in the body of a mammal, humans included? Wikipedia: Collagen; Wikipedia: Dermis
  • Which tiny muscles at the base of each hair contract to make goose bumps? Wikipedia: Goose bumps
  • Which tough protein makes up hair, nails and the outer layer of the skin? Wikipedia: Keratin

Cells and DNA 18

  • About how many base pairs of DNA make up the human reference genome? Wikipedia: Human genome
  • Animal tissues fall into four basic types. Connective, muscle and nervous are three. What is the fourth? Wikipedia: Tissue (biology)
  • For decades textbooks gave the wrong human chromosome count of 48. In which year was the true number found? Wikipedia: Chromosome
  • From which parent is mitochondrial DNA inherited? Wikipedia: Mitochondrial DNA
  • How many chromosomes does a human egg cell or sperm cell carry? Wikipedia: Ploidy; Wikipedia: Gamete
  • How many chromosomes does a typical human cell have? Wikipedia: Chromosome
  • The Human Genome Project set out to read all of human DNA. In which year was it completed? Wikipedia: Human Genome Project
  • Identical twins develop from how many fertilized eggs? Wikipedia: Twin
  • The longest fiber of a human nerve cell can reach from the base of the spine to the toes. About how long is that? Wikipedia: Neuron
  • Roughly how many cells make up a typical adult human body? Wikipedia: Cell (biology)
  • What are the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes called? Wikipedia: Telomere
  • What is a karyotype? Wikipedia: Karyotype
  • What is special about a stem cell? Wikipedia: Stem cell
  • What is the single cell formed when an egg cell and a sperm cell join? Wikipedia: Zygote
  • Which human cell is one of the largest in the body and can typically be seen without a microscope? Wikipedia: Egg cell
  • Which is the largest human chromosome? Wikipedia: Chromosome 1; Wikipedia: Chromosome 21
  • Which is the most common cell in mature bone? Wikipedia: Osteocyte
  • Which pair of sex chromosomes usually leads to a male body? Wikipedia: XY sex-determination system; Wikipedia: Y chromosome

Glands, kidneys and growth 19

  • From the start of which week after fertilization is a developing human called a fetus and no longer an embryo? Wikipedia: Human development (biology); Wikipedia: Fetus
  • The hormone-making cell clusters of the pancreas are named after the German anatomist who discovered them in 1869. Who was he? Wikipedia: Pancreatic islets; Wikipedia: Insulin
  • How many blood vessels does a human umbilical cord normally contain? Wikipedia: Umbilical cord
  • How many parathyroid glands do most people have? Wikipedia: Parathyroid gland
  • The pineal gland makes melatonin, a hormone that shapes sleep patterns. What is the gland named after? Wikipedia: Pineal gland
  • What do endocrine glands release straight into the bloodstream? Wikipedia: Endocrine system; Wikipedia: Hormone
  • What do the two bean-shaped kidneys do? Wikipedia: Kidney
  • What is the name for the process in which the body of a child matures into the body of an adult? Wikipedia: Puberty
  • What is the soft spot on a baby's head properly called? Wikipedia: Fontanelle
  • What is the working unit of the kidney called? Wikipedia: Kidney
  • Where are the adrenal glands? Wikipedia: Adrenal gland; Wikipedia: Adrenaline
  • Where in a long bone such as the femur does growth in length take place? Wikipedia: Epiphyseal plate
  • Which butterfly-shaped gland sits in the neck? Wikipedia: Thyroid
  • Which gland at the base of the brain, about the size of a kidney bean, releases growth hormone? Wikipedia: Pituitary gland; Wikipedia: Growth hormone
  • Which gland in the chest grows until puberty and then shrinks? Wikipedia: Thymus
  • Which organ links a fetus to its mother and passes food and oxygen across? Wikipedia: Placenta
  • Which tubes carry urine from the kidneys to the bladder? Wikipedia: Ureter; Wikipedia: Urinary bladder
  • Wisdom teeth are the last teeth to come through. Which kind of tooth are they? Wikipedia: Wisdom tooth
  • The word infant comes from the Latin infans. What does it literally mean? Wikipedia: Infant

How this list was compiled: Written for this site. Every answer was checked on 2026-09-19 against the English Wikipedia article linked on the question (https://en.wikipedia.org/). The easy and hard levels are our own estimate. This is a quiz of names, counts, places and jobs in the human body. It is not medical information. Licence: own work