
Located at the top of the vertebral column, these bones form the neck and support the head. Cervical vertebrae - the first seven bones.Over time some smaller bones fuse together, resulting in a total of 26 vertebrae in adults (Bogduk, 2005 Tortora and Grabowski, 2003). These 33 bones are divided into five categories depending on where they are located in the vertebral column (Fig 2). The spine The vertebral column (also called the backbone, spine or spinal column) consists of a series of 33 irregularly shaped bones (during childhood), called vertebrae.

Hyoid (neck bone, aids speech - not shown) - one īones can be classified on the basis of their shape (Table 1), with some bone shapes related to either the axial or the appendicular skeleton.


This article, the third in a four-part series, explores the axial skeleton.
