You searched for:
“atlases”
atlas (s), atlases (pl)
1. A book containing maps and vital statistics relating to geographic regions.
2. An architecture figure of man used as support; such as, a figure of a man, either standing or kneeling, used as a support for the upper part of a classical building.
3. A ringlike bone in tetrapods (four-footed creatures) that forms the first neck (cervical) vertebra of the vertebral column, on which the skull rests.
2. An architecture figure of man used as support; such as, a figure of a man, either standing or kneeling, used as a support for the upper part of a classical building.
3. A ringlike bone in tetrapods (four-footed creatures) that forms the first neck (cervical) vertebra of the vertebral column, on which the skull rests.
In reptiles, birds, and mammals, it articulates with the skull to allow nodding of the head and articulates with the axis to allow rotatory movement.
4. In general anatomy, referring to the top bone in neck: the vertebra that is at the top of the spinal column and which supports the skull. The atlas locks with the skull on rotation and turns with the head.The anatomical name, atlas, refers to the first vertebra; so called, because it holds up the skull (globe). It was named by the Belgian anatomist Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564).