Dog · Bone · Neck
Atlas
The first cervical vertebra: a ring with broad wings and no body. Its cranial fovea take the occipital condyles, which is the joint that nods the head.
- System
- Bone
- Region
- Neck
- Sides
- Single, on the midline
- Named parts
- 13
Where it runs from and to
A muscle is told apart from its neighbours by what it takes hold of at each end, which is also what decides what it does when it shortens.
- Action
- The first cervical vertebra: a ring with broad wings and no body. Its cranial fovea take the occipital condyles, which is the joint that nods the head.
Written for Vetomica in its own words from the standard reference anatomy of the dog; the books it was checked against are listed below.
Named parts
What to look for on the bone, and what each part is called in the Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria.
- Dorsal archArcus dorsalis
- The roof of the ring.Miller 2020, p. 271
- Ventral archArcus ventralis
- The floor of the ring; the atlas has no body.Miller 2020, p. 271
- Wings of the atlasAlae atlantis
- The broad plates to either side, felt through the skin behind the skull.Miller 2020, p. 271
- Lateral massMassa lateralis
- The thickened side of the ring that carries the joint surfaces.Miller 2020, p. 271
- Cranial articular foveaFovea articularis cranialis
- The paired cups that take the occipital condyles; the joint the head nods on.Miller 2020, p. 271
- Caudal articular foveaFovea articularis caudalis
- The paired surfaces behind, meeting the axis.Miller 2020, p. 271
- Fovea of the densFovea dentis
- The hollow on the inside of the ventral arch that the dens of the axis turns in.Miller 2020, p. 271
- Dorsal tubercleTuberculum dorsale
- The low ridge in the middle of the dorsal arch.Miller 2020, p. 271
- Ventral tubercleTuberculum ventrale
- The projection at the back of the ventral arch.Miller 2020, p. 271
- Alar foramenForamen alare
- The opening through the wing that the vertebral artery passes.Miller 2020, p. 271
- Lateral vertebral foramenForamen vertebrale laterale
- The opening through the cranial part of the arch for the first cervical nerve.Miller 2020, p. 271
- Alar notchIncisura alaris
- The notch in the cranial edge of the wing.Miller 2020, p. 271
- Atlantal fossaeFossae atlantis
- The hollows on the underside of the wings.Miller 2020, p. 271
What it meets
Articulates with the occipital condyles and the axis; wings palpable.
Bones it articulates with
- Occipital bone
- Axis
Joints it forms
- Atlanto occipital joint
- Atlantoaxial joint
Muscles and ligaments that take hold of it
- Transverse ligament of atlas
- Dorsal atlantoaxial ligament
Measured on the specimen
What the atlas is in contact with in the model itself, with the share of the other structure’s surface it covers. A contact is not always a joint: bones that simply lie against one another are in this list too.
Measured on the left side.
Terminology
- English
- Atlas
- Latin (NAV)
- Atlas
- Status
- A valid term in the Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria
References
Where to read this structure in full, and where the named parts above were read.
- Miller 2020Miller 2020, ch. 4 The Skeleton, Cervical Vertebrae (atlas), PDF p. 261
- König & Liebich 2020vertebral column, p. 109
- Dyce 2017ch. 12 Neck, Back and Vertebral Column of the Dog and Cat, p. 390
- NAV 2017Osteologia