Hereâs one of the more well known areas of shark anatomy. 1  The fins of a shark are easily recognizable, and immensely important. Most sharks have five different types of fins, while some sharks only have four. These types of fins include: 2  Pectoral. 3  Pelvic. 4  Dorsal. 5  Anal. 6  Caudal.
spinal column. n. 1. (Anatomy) a series of contiguous or interconnecting bony or cartilaginous segments that surround and protect the spinal cord. Also called: spine, vertebral column or rachis Nontechnical name: backbone.
The vertebral column is composed of a series of 31 separate bones known as vertebrae. There are seven cervical or neck vertebrae, 12 thoracic vertebrae, and five lumbar vertebrae. The sacrum is composed of five fused vertebrae, and there are two coccygeal vertebrae which are sometimes fused (fig.1). In the normal adult there are four curvatures in the vertebral column in an anteroposterior plane. These serve to align the head with a vertical line through the pelvis (fig. 2).he arch encloses an opening, the vertebral foramen, which helps to form a canal in which the spinal cord is housed. Protruding from the posterior extreme of each neural arch is a spinous process and extending from the lateral edges of each arch are transverse processes.