Anatomical terms of location
Videos
Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its stan
A male and female human in the standard anatomical position
The standard anatomical planes of both a human and a goat displaying three anatomical planes: the median plane the transverse plane the coronal plane (dorsal plane in quadrupeds)
Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex highlighted in dark green
Terms can be modified with prefixes and suffixes. In this image showing the jellyfish species Chrysaora, the prefix 'ab-', is used to indicate something that is 'away from' the mouth, for example the aboral. Other terms are combined to indicate axes, such as proximodistal axis.
Anatomical plane
Videos
An anatomical plane is an imaginary flat surface that is used to transect the body, in order to describe the location of structures or the direction of movements. In anatomy, planes are mostly used to
Anatomical terms of location
…what is at the front ("anterior"), behind ("posterior") and so on. As part of defining and describing terms, the body is described through the use of anatomical planes and axes. The meaning of terms that are used can change depending on whether a vertebrate is a biped or a quadruped, due to the difference in the…
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