he axial skeleton consists of the skeleton of the spinal column, which includes the cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral and caudal sections of the skeleton of the head (skull).
The skeleton of the spinal column.
It consists of bone segments (vertebrae). The vertebra is a symmetrical bone on which the body, arch and processes are distinguished. The vertebral body is the most permanent part, there is a head at the cranial end, and a fossa at the caudal end. The vertebral arch is located above the vertebral body, resulting in the formation of a vertebral foramen between it and the body. Holes of the vertebrae form the spinal canal in which the spinal cord is placed. Between adjacent vertebrae in the area of the notches of the vertebral arches are paired intervertebral openings, which serve to exit the spinal nerves from the spinal cord and the entrance of blood vessels. An unpaired spinous process is located on the dorsal surface of the vertebral arch. On the lateral surfaces of the arch there are paired transverse costal processes, and in the thoracic region – transverse. Moreover, on the arch of the vertebra there are paired articular cranial and caudal processes. On some vertebrae, small paired mastoid processes are secreted.
