Axial Skeleton

Vocabulary

Margin/Border

Edge

Ramus

Branch off body

Condyle

Smooth rounded articular surface

Facet

Small flattened articular surface

Process

Prominent projection

Tubercle

Small rounded bump

Tuberosity

Knob

Trochanter

Tuberosities on proximal femur

Epicondyle

Near or above condyle

Line/Linea

Low ridge

Crest/Crista

Prominent ridge

Spine

Very high ridge

Foramen

Hole used for nerves, blood vessels, etc.

Canal/Meatus

Tunnel

Fissure

Cleft

Sinus/Labyrinth

Cavity

Fossa

Depression

Fovea

Little point

Groove/Sulcus

Deeper, narrow depression

Fontanel

Becomes sutures after ossification in fetal skulls

Articular

Movement/Attachment

Paranasal Sinuses

Named for bones in which they are found (Frontal, Maxillary, Ethmoidal, Sphenoidal)

Fontanels

Membranous areas in same suture between bones; may ossify completely in adults and become synostosis

Intervertebral Disks

Located between adjacent vertebrae; filled with water to prevent collapse

Annulus fibrosus

External part of intervertebral disks

Nucleus pulposus

Internal and gelatinous part of intervertebral disks

Kyphosis

Outward curve in spine

Lordosis

Inward curve in spine

Thoracic Vertebrae

Long thin spinous processes directed inferiorly

Lumbar Vertebrae

Large thick bodies with rectangular transverse and spinous processes

Median Sacral Crest

Partially fused spinous process of the sacrum

Sacral Foramina

Intervertebral foramina in the sacrum

Coccyx

Tailbone

True/Vertebrosternal Ribs

Superior 7 ribs that attach directly to sternum via costal cartilages

False Ribs

Interior five ribs, including vertebrochondral (3) and floating (2) ribs

Manubrium

Part of the sternum that articulates with the first rib and clavicle

Jugular Notch

Superior notch of the manubrium

Sternal Angle

Point where manubrium joins body; second rib articulates here

Body of Sternum

Articulates with third through seventh ribs; also known as gladiolus

Xiphoid Process

Inferior tip of the sternum