Annals of the South African MuseumAnnale van die Suid-Afrikaanse Museum . itsuse is limited in that it cannot be directly applied to other vertebrates. According to Gasc (1968) and Hofstetter & Gasc (1969) the cervicalvertebrae can only be defined as those vertebrae preceding the vertebrae carryingthe first rib attached to the sternum. These authors refer to the work of Stannius(1849) and state that all other definitions of cervical vertebrae such as riblessanterior vertebrae, vertebrae with hypapophyses or ribless vertebrae plusvertebrae with short ribs are invalid because too many exceptions
Image details
Contributor:
The Reading Room / Alamy Stock PhotoImage ID:
2AXDC00File size:
7.1 MB (213.4 KB Compressed download)Releases:
Model - no | Property - noDo I need a release?Dimensions:
2687 x 930 px | 22.7 x 7.9 cm | 9 x 3.1 inches | 300dpiMore information:
This image is a public domain image, which means either that copyright has expired in the image or the copyright holder has waived their copyright. Alamy charges you a fee for access to the high resolution copy of the image.
This image could have imperfections as it’s either historical or reportage.
Annals of the South African MuseumAnnale van die Suid-Afrikaanse Museum . itsuse is limited in that it cannot be directly applied to other vertebrates. According to Gasc (1968) and Hofstetter & Gasc (1969) the cervicalvertebrae can only be defined as those vertebrae preceding the vertebrae carryingthe first rib attached to the sternum. These authors refer to the work of Stannius(1849) and state that all other definitions of cervical vertebrae such as riblessanterior vertebrae, vertebrae with hypapophyses or ribless vertebrae plusvertebrae with short ribs are invalid because too many exceptions and contra-dictions are involved. Limb regression is usually accompanied by regression of the girdles andin certain of the fossorial Scincidae. e.g. in the genus Typhlosaurus, this phe-nomenon is rather pronounced. In Feylinia the ribs of the eighth vertebra arestill attached to a vestigial sternum (Gasc 1965), in Dibamus the pectoral girdleis connected to the fifth vertebra (Gasc 1968) and in Acontias meleagris the 180 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM £C_ DMA. 1mm Fig. 7. Ventrolateral view of the superficial neck musculature. vestigial girdle is united by the serratus muscle to the second and the third ribs.In T. vermis the pectoral girdle is absent (Hofstetter & Gasc 1969). In T. auran-tiacus the pectoral girdle is also absent, and the ribs consequently lack sternalattachments. It is therefore not possible to define a specific cervical regionwithin the vertebral column of T. awantiacus. In limbless squamates such asophidians (completely lacking a pectoral girdle) and amphisbaenids (lackingsternal attachments of the ribs) Hofstetter & Gasc (1969) divide the vertebralcolumn into precloacal, cloacal and caudal regions. In this paper the term cervical does not define a region of the vertebralcolumn but refers only to that area on the precloacal region of the vertebralcolumn from which the musculature responsible for the movements of the headarise. Typhlosaurus aurantiacus ha