With only a few episodes remaining in its 12th and final season, Bones has no doubt left its mark.

The Fox TV series starring Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz first premiered in 2005. It’s celebrated major milestones and developed a passionate fan base.

In celebration of the series as it nears its end, here are a few fun facts you probably didn’t know about Bones. Check them out below, and let us know which ones surprised you the most.

20 Fun Facts About Bones:

1. Another actress was almost cast to play Temperance Brennan, but when Emily Deschanel auditioned, she and David Boreanaz had immediate chemistry. Creator Hart Hanson was also struck by the fact that when Boreanaz took a step toward Deschanel during an audition scene, she stood her ground rather than taking a step back, as most other actors would have done.

2. External shots of the fictional Jeffersonian Institute are actually shots of the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles.

3. Both Emily Deschanel’s sister and father have been involved with the show. Zooey Deschanel appeared on Bones Season 5 Episode 10, “The Goop on the Girl,” and Caleb Deschanel directed Bones Season 2 Episode 20, “The Glowing Bones in the Old Stone House.”

4. David Boreanaz’s father has also appeared on Bones. David Thomas Boreanaz (also known as Dave Roberts) made a cameo on the show’s 100th’s episode, “The Parts in the Sum of the Whole.” Additionally, Boreanaz’s wife, Jaime Bergman, will appear on Bones Season 12 Episode 9, “The Steel in the Wheels.”

5. Even though Zack Addy is described as being younger than Hodgins, Angela, and Brennan, Eric Millegan is actually older than T.J. Thyne, Michaela Conlin, and Emily Deschanel in real life.

6. Emily Deschanel and T.J. Thyne prepared for “Aliens in a Spaceship” by practicing being in the car with the doors closed and windshield on so they could understand the sensation.

7. David Boreanaz brought a lot of his own elements to Booth, including the “cocky” belt buckle and the fun socks.

8. The crew has a pet squirrel on set. Its name is Dr. Sweets. They also have a cat named Camgela.

9. T.J. Thyne is very committed to acting in the wheelchair, and stays in the chair all day during production. The actor was also enthusiastic about that storyline for Hodgins.

10. When Fox first reached out to Hart Hanson for the show, he was hesitant, saying that he wasn’t interested in doing a straight procedural. He agreed after watching a documentary on Kathy Reichs — and after making sure he’d be able to put a unique spin on the classic procedural format.

11. The writers only felt comfortable killing off Vincent Nigel Murray because the actor had been cast on another show, and they knew he wouldn’t be able to come back.

12. Similarly, Lance Sweets was killed off the show because he needed time to focus on directing the 2015 film, Vacation.

13. With Bones Season 10 Episode 16, “The Big Beef in the Royal Diner,” the show became the longest-running one-hour drama series on Fox. That episode is also the 206th, which coincidentally, is also the number of bones in the body. And yes, the show celebrated that fact by finding a way to name all of them.

14. One character that hasn’t been killed off is Cam Saroyan. Tamara Taylor’s character was actually supposed to die after six episodes, but the writers changed their minds after realizing how much they loved the character and the actress.

15. David Boreanaz and T.J. Thyne actually worked together before Bones. T.J. Thyne appeared on three episodes of Angel.

16. Bones is loosely based on the life of Kathy Reichs, though Brennan is named after the main character in Reich’s novels.

17. Brennan is also based in part on a friend of Hart Hanson’s who has Asperger’s Syndrome. Though it’s never stated that Brennan has Asperger’s, Hanson has noted that those characteristics are a part of her character. “If we were on cable, we would have said from the beginning that Brennan has Asperger’s,” Hanson said. But since it was a network show, they decided it was best not to label her.

18. The Bones Season 10 finale wasn’t what the writers originally intended. The had to write a different episode that could work as the end of the series since they weren’t yet sure if the show would be renewed.

19. James Aubrey’s father, Philip Aubrey, is played by Guy Boyd, who is the actor’s father in real life. He appears on Bones Season 12 Episode 5, “The Tutor in the Tussle.”

20. Both David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel have directed on the show. Boreanaz has directed several, including the 200th episode. Deschanel made her directorial debut on Bones Season 12 Episode 1, “The Hope in the Horror.”

Bones airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on Fox.

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