sacral vertebra
Noun 1. A bone in the lower spine: A sacral vertebra is one of the five individual bones that make up the sacral region of the vertebral column (spine) in humans. In adults, these five vertebrae are fused together to form a single triangular bone called the sacrum.
The term "sacral vertebra" is used in anatomical and medical contexts to refer to these specific spinal bones, especially when discussing their individual structure before fusion or in comparative anatomy. - The human spine typically contains five sacral vertebrae. - An injury to a sacral vertebra can affect stability and nerve function.
- Developmental context: In children and adolescents, the sacral vertebrae are separate. The term is used to describe these individual bones before they fuse into the adult sacrum.
- Radiographs of the adolescent spine clearly show the unfused sacral vertebrae.
- Comparative anatomy: The number of sacral vertebrae can vary between different animal species. The term is used to count and compare these bones.
- The bird's skeleton has a synsacrum formed from fused lumbar, sacral, and caudal vertebrae.
- Sacrum (noun): The single, triangular bone formed by the fusion of the five sacral vertebrae in the adult human.
- The sacrum connects the spine to the hip bones (pelvis).
- Sacral (adjective): Relating to the sacrum or the sacral region.
- She experienced pain in her sacral area.
- Vertebra (noun): Any of the individual bones that form the spinal column.
- Lumbar vertebra (noun): A vertebra in the lower back, above the sacral vertebrae.
- Coccygeal vertebra (noun): A vertebra in the tailbone (coccyx), below the sacral vertebrae.
- Sacral bone (when referring to an individual segment before fusion)
- Element of the sacrum
The term specifically refers to one of the five bones in that region. It is not used to describe the fused sacrum itself. The plural is "sacral vertebrae."
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one of 5 vertebrae in the human spine that fuse in the adult to form the sacrum
