The thoracic vertebrae

How they differ along the set

What changes from one end of the series to the other, which is most of what there is to know about any one of them.

• Thirteen, one for each pair of ribs.Miller 2020, p. 274
• The first nine are much alike; the last four differ from each other and from the nine in front of them.Miller 2020, p. 274
• Every one carries foveae, on the body and on the transverse process, for the head and the tubercle of a rib.Miller 2020, p. 279
• The eleventh is the anticlinal vertebra, the turning point of the thoracolumbar region: its spine stands upright.Miller 2020, p. 275
• The spines of everything in front of the eleventh lean backwards; those of the twelfth and thirteenth and everything behind them lean forwards.Miller 2020, p. 275
• The tips of the spines of the sixth and seventh lie above the front of the bodies of the eighth and ninth, and those of the eighth to tenth lie above the bodies behind them.Miller 2020, p. 275
• On the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth the mamillary processes face one another across the midline, at the base of the accessory processes.Miller 2020, p. 279
• From the tenth to the thirteenth the caudal articular surfaces move onto processes that project back and up, interlocking the joints so the back can bend and straighten but not twist.Miller 2020, p. 279
• The vertebral canal is at its widest at the first.Miller 2020, p. 279

Named parts

What a member of this set carries, and what each part is called in the Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria.

BodyCorpus vertebrae

The block the vertebra is built on, waisted in the middle, convex in front and hollowed behind.Miller 2020, p. 260

Vertebral archArcus vertebrae

The two pedicles and two laminae that roof the spinal cord.Miller 2020, p. 260

Spinous processProcessus spinosus

The single blade on top, where the laminae meet.Miller 2020, p. 261

Transverse processProcessus transversus

The arm reaching sideways where the pedicle leaves the body.Miller 2020, p. 261

Cranial vertebral notchIncisura vertebralis cranialis

The shallow step in the front edge of the arch.Miller 2020, p. 261

Caudal vertebral notchIncisura vertebralis caudalis

The deep step behind it; the two notches of neighbouring vertebrae make the intervertebral foramen the spinal nerve leaves by.Miller 2020, p. 261

Transverse costal foveaeFoveae costales transversales

The facets on the transverse processes that the tubercles of the ribs rest on.Miller 2020, p. 278

Mamillary processProcessus mamillaris

The knob on the cranial articular process.Miller 2020, p. 278

Accessory processProcessus accessorii

The spur behind it, lying over the caudal vertebral notch.Miller 2020, p. 278

The members

In order along the set. Any one of them can be singled out in the model above, with the picker beneath it.

• Thoracic vertebra IVertebra thoracica I
• Thoracic vertebra IIVertebra thoracica II
• Thoracic vertebra IIIVertebra thoracica III
• Thoracic vertebra IVVertebra thoracica IV
• Thoracic vertebra VVertebra thoracica V
• Thoracic vertebra VIVertebra thoracica VI
• Thoracic vertebra VIIVertebra thoracica VII
• Thoracic vertebra VIIIVertebra thoracica VIII
• Thoracic vertebra IXVertebra thoracica IX
• Thoracic vertebra XVertebra thoracica X
• Thoracic vertebra XIVertebra thoracica XI
• Thoracic vertebra XIIVertebra thoracica XII
• Thoracic vertebra XIIIVertebra thoracica XIII

References

Where to read this set in full, and where everything above was read.

• Miller 2020Miller 2020, ch. 4 The Skeleton, Thoracic Vertebrae, PDF p. 274
• König & Liebich 2020vertebral column, p. 109
• Dyce 2017ch. 12 Neck, Back and Vertebral Column of the Dog and Cat, p. 390 (anticlinal T11, p. 393-394)
• NAV 2017Osteologia
• Miller 2020Miller 2020, ch. 4 The Skeleton, Thoracic Vertebrae (anticlinal), PDF p. 275, 291