Dog · Bone · Thorax
Xiphoid process
Processus xiphoideus
The last piece of the sternum, ending in the xiphoid cartilage, which is where the linea alba and the diaphragm attach.
- System
- Bone
- Region
- Thorax
- Sides
- Single, on the midline
- Named parts
- 3
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 last piece of the sternum, ending in the xiphoid cartilage, which is where the linea alba and the diaphragm attach.
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.
- Xiphoid processProcessus xiphoideus
- The last sternebra: wide, flat and roughly rectangular, about three times as long as it is broad.Miller 2020, p. 295
- Xiphoid foramen
- An elliptical opening that may be present in its caudal half.Miller 2020, p. 295
- Xiphoid cartilageCartilago xiphoidea
- The thin cartilaginous plate carrying the process further back; rarely it is forked or perforated.Miller 2020, p. 295
What it meets
Bones it articulates with
- Xiphoid cartilage
Joints it forms
- Sternal synchondroses
Muscles and ligaments that take hold of it
- Diaphragma pars sternalis
Measured on the specimen
What the xiphoid process 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.
- Sternebra 731%
- Costal cartilage 96%
- Costal cartilage 96%
- Costal cartilage 85%
- Costal cartilage 85%
Measured on the left side.
Terminology
- English
- Xiphoid process
- Latin (NAV)
- Processus xiphoideus
- 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, Sternum, PDF p. 295
- König & Liebich 2020skeleton of the thorax, p. 125
- Dyce 2017ch. 13 Thorax of the Dog and Cat, p. 403
- NAV 2017Osteologia