BIO 206 Lecture 1: BIO2061917
10 Jan 2017
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Document Summary
The axial skeleton consists of the following bones: Skull: 8 cranial bones, 14 facial bones. Vertebral column: 7 cervical vertebrae, 12 thoracic vertebrae, 5 lumbar vertebrae, sacrum, coccyx. Rib cage: 12 pairs of ribs, sternum. From the greek word kranion , the skull is comprised of 22 paired bones (8 cranial bones and. Functions of the skull include: forming a protective cavity for the brain, providing cavities to house sensory organs, providing openings for food and air passages, the process of mastication. The skull is not completely ossified at birth. Between the 8 cranial bones of the fetal skull exist 6 major unossified membranous areas called fontanelles (french for little fountain ). These are called: antero-lateral (sphenoid) fontanelle, postero-lateral (mastoid) fontanelle, anterior fontanelle, posterior fontanelle. The anterior fontanelle is the largest of the fontenelles and is located between the frontal and parietal bones.
