🦴 Ever notice that it looks like babies don’t have wrist bones on an X-ray? Don’t worry—they absolutely do! 👶 The reason you can’t see them is that most of the carpal (wrist) bones are still made of cartilage, and cartilage doesn’t show up on a standard X-ray. So while it may look like the wrist is “missing bones,” they’re actually there—they just haven’t ossified yet. 🩻 As babies grow, those cartilage models gradually get replaced by bone through endochondral ossification, allowing the carpal bones to become visible on X-rays over time. 💡 Here’s an interesting anatomy fact: • Long bones (like the radius and ulna) develop with primary and later secondary ossification centers. • Carpal bones are different. They also form by endochondral ossification, but they do not have separate primary and secondary ossification centers. Instead, each carpal bone develops from a single ossification center. 📈 One of the coolest parts? Pediatric orthopedic surgeons and radiologists can often e...