Axial skeleton

BIO 85
Components of the axial skeleton
1. Vertebrae
• Each vertebral segment consists of dorsal arches (neural
and interneural), ventral arches (hemal and interhemal
arches), and two centra (intercentrum & pleurocentrum)

Generalized axial skeleton of a primitive gnathostome

 Components of the axial skeleton
1. Vertebrae > Centra
• Centrum constitutes the
body of the vertebra

Anterior to the right.

General development of mammalian vertebrae
➢ Mesenchymal cells migrate
inward and cluster along the
sides of the notochord, initially
form enlarged clusters called
perichordal rings
➢ Mesenchymal cells condense
connecting these rings forming
a perichordal tube enclosing
the notochord
➢ Mesenchymal condensation
extend up along the sides of
the neural tube, the future
neural spine, and into the
dorsal process, the future
neural arch.
➢ By now, vertebra outline is
recognizable. Mesenchymal
condensation becomes
chondrified, then bone
formation is endochondral
Components of the
axial skeleton
2. Ribs
• Provide sites for muscle
attachment
• Form a protective case (rib
cage), & help suspend the
body
• Accessory breathing
devices
➢Fishes have dorsal and
ventral ribs
➢dorsal ribs persists
becoming trunk ribs in
terrestrial vertebrates,
ventral rib is lost
Components of the axial skeleton
2. Sternum 3. Gastralia
▪ Offers a site of origin for chest • or abdominal ribs
muscles
▪ Secures true ribs completing the • Found in some lizards,
rib cage crocodiles, and Sphenodon
▪ Absent in fishes • Accessory skeletal system
▪ Present in modern amphibians providing sites for
▪ Absent in turtles, snakes, and muscular attachment
limbless lizards, common in
other reptiles
▪ Confers stability during
locomotion
▪ birds have a large sternum
called the “carina” for
additional muscle attachment
used for flight
Phylogeny - Agnathans
• lampreys possess a prominent notochord and few
small cartilaginous vertebral elements

Lamprey skeleton
Phylogeny – fishes
(Actinopterygians)
• sturgeons & paddlefishes
• Unossified vertebral column
(assumed to be a secondary
condition)
• Several vertebral elements
present in each segment

• teleosts & bowfin

• Ossified vertebral column
• Centra replacing notochord
• More developed neural spines
and ribs
Phylogeny – fishes
(Sarcopterygians)

• notochord serving as the

major supportive element in
the axial skeleton
 Phylogeny - fishes
• axial column can resists
compressive loads

• intervertebral ligaments
resists lateral bending and
return stiffness to the
vertebral column

• torsion – tendency to twist

the axial column
• consolidation of the vertebral
elements (holospondylous
vertebral column) help
withstand torsional forces
 Phylogeny - fishes
• Caudal skeleton and fins

• Heterocercal tail – vertebral

column turns upward

• Diphycercal tail – fins

developed symmetrically
above and below the
vertebral column

• Homocercal tail – appears to

be symmetrical but
vertebral column slants
upward
 Phylogeny - fishes
• Caudal skeleton and fins
• Small ventral lobe deflects
water upward causing a small
downward force
• Large dorsal lobe deflects
water downward causing a
large upward force
• The resultant force (net force)
is directed forward and
upward
Phylogeny - tetrapods
• Rhachitomous vertebra,
inherited from rhipidistian
fishes, evolved two major
lines,

1. (1) Temnospondyl lineage

• intercentrum enlarged at the
expense of pleurocentrum;
• pleurocentrum consequently
got lost

2. (2) Anthracosaur lineage

• pleurocentrum predominates
 Phylogeny - tetrapods
• Vertebral column must be
firm and strong to suspend
and support the body for
terrestrial locomotion
• Ossification of the centra
replacing notochord for
axial support
• Enlargement of only one
centrum reduces the
number of centra per
segment
• Reduces flexibility, and adds
firmness to the axial column
 Form and Function
• Evolution from water to land
• From a buoyant support design to a
design in which bodies were
suspended between limbs
• Lateral body undulations were
carried from fish ancestors to early
tetrapods
• Without surrounding water to
support the body and with feet
established a pivot joints, walking on
land placed new torsional stresses on
the vertebrae
Form and Function
• In Fluid medium;
1. Drag – solved by streamlining
2. Orientation in three-dimensional space - solved by
stabilizing fins
▪ In terrestrial environments;
1. Gravity – solved by design of vertebrae (direction and
height of the neural spine), regionalization of the
vertebral column
Form and Function – in terrestrial
environment
• Direction and height of the neural
spine
• Neural spines are levers that transmit
the force of muscle contraction to the
centra

• Increasing the height of the neural

spine increases the lever arm from
centrum to line of muscle action,
and effectively increases the
mechanical advantage of the muscle

• Neural spine is oriented in such a

way that its long axis is in parallel
with the resultant force collectively
imposed by all axial muscles
attached to it
Form and Function – in terrestrial environment

• Regionalization of the
vertebral column:
• Fishes
• Caudal and trunk regions
• Vertebral column offers sites of
muscle attachment and not for
support. Support comes from
the surrounding water;
• Prevents telescoping of the
body & allowing lateral
flexibility for swimming
 Form and Function – in terrestrial environment
• Regionalization of the vertebral
column:
• Tetrapods – supports the body
against gravity
• Locomotion is important:
• Hindlimbs are directly attached to
the adjacent region of the vertebral
column defining the sacral region
• Differentiation of the cervical region
allowing cranial mobility
Form and Function – in
terrestrial environment
• Birds
• Cervical vertebrae is highly mobile
(heterocoelous articulations)
• Posterior thoracic, lumbar, sacral, &
occasionally, caudal vertebrae fuse
into a unit, the synsacrum

▪ Bones of the pelvic girdle fuse into the

innominate bone, which in turn fuses
with the synsacrum
▪ Results in the union of pelvic and
vertebral bones into a sturdy but light
structure supporting the body during
flight
APPENDICULAR SKELETON
 Appendicular
skeleton

fins and
girdle
limbs
 Basic components of the fin
Appendicular
skeleton: Fins
• Sometimes called “dermal
fin rays”
• In sharks, dermal fin rays
are also called
“ceratotrichia” (keratinized
Fin rays
rods)
• In bony fishes, fin rays are
called “lepidotrichia” which
is sometimes chondrified
or ossified
• Some bony fishes have
keratinized structures
present at the tip of the
lepidotrichia called
“actinotrichia”
 Appendicular
skeleton: Limbs
Basic components of the limb
Appendicular skeleton
• Primitive tetrapod pattern was polydactylous (more
than 5 digits) and the five-digit pattern (pentadactylous)
is a latter stabilization

• Reduction in number of phalanges and loss or fusion of

associated carpals and tarsals
Appendicular skeleton: manus (forelimb) & pes (hindlimb)
 Phylogeny: Tetrapod girdle
• Loss of pectoral girdle
attachment to the skull
allowing cranial mobility

• Girdle and limbs more

ossified, more robust
Phylogeny: Tetrapods: Pectoral girdle
• Pectoral girdle:
• Dermal and endoskeletal
elements
• Detached from the skull:
posttemporal,
supracleithrum and
postcleithrum
(=anocleithrum) are lost
• Shoulder girdle includes
paired cleithrum and
clavicle, and unpaired
interclavicle joining both
girdle across the midline
•dermal elements (no shading) of
the girdle tend to be lost, and Evolution of pectoral
endochondral elements (shaded
elements) tend to assume a greater girdle
prominence.
•A single endochondral element, the
scapulocoracoid, is present in
fishes, but in early tetrapods, two
distinct bones, the scapula and the
procoracoid, are present.
•In primitive amniotes, a third
endochondral bone appears, the
coracoid, to join with the
phylogenetically older scapula and
procoracoid. The three persist into
primitive mammals, although only
two remain in therian mammals
(scapula and coracoid as a process).
•In modern reptiles and birds, the
scapula and coracoid persist; the
procoracoid is reduced or lost from
the adult shoulder girdle.
 Evolution of pelvic girdle

• ilium, ischium, &

pubis
• Endochondral
elements, no
contribution from
dermal bone
• Basic pattern
persisting into later
tetrapods
Modes of locomotion
1. Swimming
• Experiences drag in a viscous medium
• Streamlining preventing flow separation and reduces
drag
• Lateral undulations producing backthrust against the
water and providing forward force
Modes of locomotion
2. Terrestrial locomotion
• Limbs are the main
contributions to locomotion
and not the tail
• Shoulders moves on the thorax
so that forelimb’s impact with
the ground is softened and not
transmitted to the skull
• hip is firmly associated with the
sacrum via a bony connection
• Hindlimbs transmit their
propulsive force directly to the
bony axial column
• Cursorial – running
• Saltatorial – hopping
• Fossorial – burrowing
Modes of locomotion
3. Aerial locomotion
 Biology 85: The Skeletal System
QUIZ

Guide questions: Use an intermediate paper for your answers.

1. Compare and contrast the 3 different types of animal skeleton.

2. From which cell or germ layer does the following supporting structures are derived?
a. notochord b. connective tissue c. cartilage d. bones
3. Describe the characteristic or nature and location of the following supporting
structures.
a. notochord b. connective tissue c. cartilage d. bones
4. Define the three different regions of the skull.
5. Differentiate dermal bone from endochondral bone.
6. Describe how jaws are developed?
7. What are the advantages of having an unfused cervical vertebrae?
8. Differentiate dermatocranium, chondrocranium, and splanchnocranium?
9. What are the major adaptations of axial and appendicular skeleton to address life on
land?
10. How does the appendicular skeleton aid in locomotion of tetrapods and how is this
different from aquatic vertebrates.