Skip to main content

Cartilage Types

This video presents the same text shown beside it, spoken and on screen. It adds nothing the text does not say.

State

Cartilage, a connective tissue per Bio 2739, takes three forms: hyaline, smooth and flexible at joint surfaces; elastic, recoiling at the outer ear; and fibrocartilage, tough and shock-absorbing between vertebrae.

Show

Fibrocartilage discs between vertebrae absorb compression that would otherwise transmit directly to bone.

Watch for

Cartilage lacks its own blood supply, which is why cartilage injuries heal far more slowly than bone fractures.