Human Skeletal Development involves growth and differentiation of axial, limb, and cranial elements of the skeletal system. Axial vertebrae and ribs derive from cartilage precursors of the paired segmented paraxial mesodermal somite sclerotomes. Interdependent positional signaling by the apical ectodermal ridge, the posterior mesenchyme zone of polarizing activity, and the non ridge ectoderm coordinate limb bud outgrowth and patterning by migrated lateral plate mesoderm and somite cells. Proximal-distal differentiating mesenchymal cells condense to form the limb skeletal primordia. The skull forms by direct ossification of, or cartilage condensation from neural crest-derived, ectomesenchyme.

(skeletal system development) The process whose specific outcome is the progression of the skeleton over time, from its formation to the mature structure. The skeleton is the bony framework of the body in vertebrates (endoskeleton) or the hard outer envelope of insects (exoskeleton or dermoskeleton).