The vertebral column, also known as the spinal column, spine or backbone, is the core part of the axial skeleton in vertebrate animals. The vertebral column is the defining and eponymous characteristic of the vertebrate endoskeleton, where the notochord found in all chordates has been replaced by a segmented series of mineralized irregular bones called vertebrae, separated by fibrocartilaginous intervertebral discs. The dorsal portion of the vertebral column houses the spinal canal, an elongated cavity formed by alignment of the vertebral neural arches that encloses and protects the spinal cord, with spinal nerves exiting via the intervertebral foramina to innervate each body segments.
Lateral lumbar X-ray of a 34-year-old male
3D Medical Animation still shot of Spina Bifida
Diagram showing normal curvature of the vertebrae from childhood to teenage
A vertebra (diameter 5 mm) of a small ray-finned fish
Vertebrates are deuterostomal animals with bony or cartilaginous axial endoskeleton — known as the vertebral column, spine or backbone — around and along the spinal cord, including all fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. The vertebrates consist of all the taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata and represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with currently about 69,963 species described.
Fossilized skeleton (cast) of Diplodocus carnegii, showing an extreme example of the backbone that characterizes the vertebrates.
Gill arches bearing gills in a pike
The early vertebrate Haikouichthys
Acanthostega, a fish-like early labyrinthodont.