Temperance is real human skeleton that resides in the librarians’ office at Cone Hospital. She is a historic medical teaching skeleton that has been passed down through the archives for decades. No one at Cone knows her real origins, but she was likely purchased from India - the world’s largest supplier of bones used in medical study. In 1985 the Indian government outlawed the export of human remains, but a black-market trade remains to this day. She was named after the main character on the tv show "Bones."
Reference: Carney, S. (2007, November 27). Inside India's underground trade in human remains. Wired. Retrieved March 1, 2023, from https://www.wired.com/2007/11/ff-bones/