Editing Carpal bones (section)

{{short description|Eight small bones that make up the wrist (or carpus) that connects the hand to the forearm}}
{{Infobox bone
| Name        = Carpal bones
| Latin       = os carpale<br>pl. ossa carpi
| Image       = Xray hand with color.jpg
| Caption     =
| Image2      = 3D Medical Animation Human Wrist.jpg
| Caption2    = Labelled image showing the eight carpal bones.
}}

The '''carpal bones''' are the eight small [[bone]]s that make up the [[wrist]] (carpus) that connects the [[hand]] to the [[forearm]]. The terms "carpus" and "carpal" are derived from the [[Latin]] [[wikt:carpus#Latin|carpus]] and the [[Greek language|Greek]] [[wikt:καρπός#Ancient Greek|καρπός]] (karpós), meaning "wrist". In [[human anatomy]], the main role of the carpal bones is to [[joint|articulate]] with the [[radius (bone)|radial]] and [[ulnar]] heads to form a highly mobile [[condyloid joint]] (i.e. [[wrist joint]]),<ref name="Kingston-126">Kingston 2000, pp 126-127</ref> to provide attachments for [[thenar]] and [[hypothenar]] muscles, and to form part of the rigid [[carpal tunnel]] which allows the [[median nerve]] and [[tendon]]s of the [[anterior compartment of the forearm|anterior forearm muscles]] to be transmitted to the hand and [[finger]]s.

In [[tetrapod]]s, the '''carpus''' is the sole cluster of bones in the wrist between the [[radius (bone)|radius]] and [[ulna]] and the [[metacarpus]]. The bones of the carpus do not belong to individual [[finger]]s (or toes in quadrupeds), whereas those of the metacarpus do. The corresponding part of the [[foot]] is the [[Tarsus (skeleton)|tarsus]]. The carpal bones allow the wrist to move and rotate vertically.<ref name="Kingston-126"/>