Bones

The Skull in the Desert - S1-E17

Other mistake: When Bones, Booth and Angela are in the desert looking for the crime scene and sheriff's sister, Booth mentions they are at least five days walking distance from the highway. A few moments later you can see trucks and other vehicles go by on a highway in the far background. (00:30:02 - 00:31:22)

The Bullet in the Brain - S6-E11

Factual error: Bone mentions Booth holds the "official record for the longest shot, almost a kilometer", and Booth corrects her to "over a kilometer." The record at the time was actually well over 2km, held by Corporal Rob Furlong, a Canadian sniper (since been beaten, it currently stands at 3.5km). In fact plenty of sniper kills had been recorded at over a kilometer since the late 19th century.

Jon Sandys

The Pain in the Heart - S3-E15

Character mistake: Bones says the remains are from someone about 180cm tall, and when asked for the "English" version, says "approximately 5'8." But 180cm is nearly 5'11" - 5'8" is only just over 170cm. Not a simplification someone as pedantic/accurate as Bones would make.

Jon Sandys

The Carrot in the Kudzu - S9-E18

Factual error: The plant the victim is covered in is not Kudzu. Kudzu is trifoliate (three leaflets per node) with two or three lobes per leaflet, and with entire margins (no serrations). The plant shown is serrated and does not have lobes.

Breedrache

The Finger in the Nest - S4-E4

Character mistake: Hodgins discovers sap from a Japanese cherry tree on the bone from the nest. When the new graduate assistant suggests that it is one of the cherry trees at the Jefferson Memorial, Hodgins is skeptical of the information. In reality everyone who has lived in DC knows about the Japanese cherry trees at the memorial. They have an entire festival attributed to it every year and it practically shuts down the city with tourists. Hodgins should have known about the trees to begin with. (00:01:45)

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The Dwarf in the Dirt - S5-E7

Trivia: At around 5 mins 11 seconds into the episode, Vincent Nigel-Murrey and Dr. Saroyan are discussing the bones on the forensic platform. In the background of a shot of Vincent, the x-ray on the screen is of Homer Simpson's head in the middle of the screen, instead of a real human skull.

jamba_fish_87

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The Girl in the Mask - S4-E23

Question: When Doctor Brennan is examining the victim's skull, she states that a "straight suture across the palatine bone" indicates that the victim was a native Japanese speaker. I've studied linguistics, but I've never heard of a person's native language actually affecting their anatomy. So, for example: would a person of Japanese heritage who was born and raised in the US and spoke only English be distinguishable from a person who grew up in Japan and spoke only Japanese, purely by their palatine bones? (00:06:10)

tinsmith

Answer: Since the palatine bone is a bone that helps form the mouth it has a lot to do with speaking. The shape of it differs a lot depending on your ethnic background. I would guess that they, in the show, meant that the person's bone tells that they were Japanese and that it was "made for the purpose of speaking Japanese." That's what I'd assume anyway. I've studied molecular biology though, so I'm not an expert on bones.

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