Two years into an Arctic expedition, they were forced to abandon ship a thousand miles north of Siberia. The Best Nonfiction Books of 2014 William OâConnor December 14, 2014 Going to the library was like a treasure hunt, an expedition.
The vertebral column, also known as the backbone or spine, is part of the axial skeleton. The vertebral column is the defining characteristic of a vertebrate, in which the notochord (a flexible rod of uniform composition) found in all chordates has been replaced by a segmented series of bonesâvertebrae separated by intervertebral discs.
The spine is comprised of several small bones, called vertebrae, stacked on top of each other. The purpose of the vertebrae is to establish the structure of the spine. In between each vertebra is a disc and a joint, which allow the vertebrae (and ultimately the spine) to move and bend easily.