Front | Back |
Standard anatomical position
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Human standing facing forward, feet together & pointing forward, with none of the long bones crossed from the viewers perspective.
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Left & right
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Refers to the individuals left and right, not the viewer's.
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Cranial
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Refers to the skull
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Postcranial
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Refers to the rest of the skeleton, without the skull.
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Axial skeleton
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Refers to the trunk; vertabrae, sacrum, ribs, and sternum.
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Appendicular skeleton
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Bones of the limbs, including the shoulder and pelvic girdles.
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Sagittal (midsagittal, median, or midline) plane
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Plane that divides the body into symmetrical right and left halves.
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Parasagittal section (plane)
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Any planar slice through the body that parallels the sagittal plane.
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Coronal (frontal) plane
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Divides the body into anterior and posterior halves and is placed at right angles to the sagittal plane.
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Transverse (horizontal) plane
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The plane that slices through the body at any height but always passes perpendicular to the sagittal and frontal planes.
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Orthograde
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Upright torso as in humans (opposed to pronograde, trunk horizontal, as in quadripeds)
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Superior (cephalic, cranial)
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Toward the head end of the hominid body, cephalic/cranial can be used in non hominids.
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Inferior
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Opposite of superior, toward the feet of a hominid. the term caudel is used in non-hominids.
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Anterior (ventral)
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Toward the front of the hominid body. ventral may be used for bipeds and quadrupeds.
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Posterior
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Towards the back of the hominid body. "dorsal" is used for quadrupeds.
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