Vertebral arch

The vertebral arch ( arcus vertebrae, neural arches Syn ) is a paired, arcuate and dorsal ( back upward oriented ) outgrowth of a vertebra. He begins with a "feet " ( Pediculus arcus vertebrae) that are in the bow plate (lamina arcus vertebrae) unite. The vertebral foramen is located ( vertebral foramen ), which together with the vortices holes of the remaining vertebrae the spinal canal in which the spinal cord lies between the vertebral arch and the vertebral body. The vertebral arches is cartilaginous or bony.

Emanate from the vertebral arch from various appendages: Dorsal ( back down) sits the spinous process ( processus spinosus or neurapophysis ). Laterally located at the vertebral arches are the transverse processes ( processus transversus or diapophysis ) where - the ribs are attached - in mammals only at the thoracic vertebrae. In some fishes and land vertebrates ( Tetrapoda ) the vertebral arches ( articular processus or zygapophyses ) by the four articular processes are interconnected, which is on the front ( prezygapophyses ) and the back ( postzygapophyses ) are of the vertebral arches. In the tail spine disappear the vertebral arches.