Which structure is described as a tough dense fibrous connective tissue connecting bones and cartilages to other bones and cartilages?

Which structure is described as a tough dense fibrous connective tissue connecting bones and cartilages to other bones and cartilages?

• A. Ligament
• B. Tendon
• C. Cartilage
• D. Bone

Answer: (A)

Ligaments are tough, dense fibrous connective bands that hold bones together at joints, connecting bone to bone and, in some joint areas, linking bones to cartilage. Their collagen fibers are packed in parallel rows, giving them high tensile strength to resist pulling forces when a joint moves. This makes ligaments ideal for stabilizing joints and guiding motion, unlike tendons which attach muscle to bone, or cartilage, which is a semi-rigid tissue that protects and cushions joint surfaces rather than binding bones together. Bone is the rigid mineralized tissue of the skeleton. So the described structure—tough, dense fibrous tissue that connects bones (and sometimes cartilage) at joints—is a ligament.

Ligaments are tough, dense fibrous connective bands that hold bones together at joints, connecting bone to bone and, in some joint areas, linking bones to cartilage. Their collagen fibers are packed in parallel rows, giving them high tensile strength to resist pulling forces when a joint moves. This makes ligaments ideal for stabilizing joints and guiding motion, unlike tendons which attach muscle to bone, or cartilage, which is a semi-rigid tissue that protects and cushions joint surfaces rather than binding bones together. Bone is the rigid mineralized tissue of the skeleton. So the described structure—tough, dense fibrous tissue that connects bones (and sometimes cartilage) at joints—is a ligament.