Anatomy Beginnings

Man is not the centre of the universe as was naïvely believed in the past, but something much more beautiful—Man the ascending arrow of great biological synthesis.
—P. Teilhard de Chardin

The place of humans amongst the Animalia

Chordata

diagnostic characteristics

notochord

dorsal hollow nerve cord

pharyngeal pouches

other features

bilateral symmetry

segmentation

body cavities [coelomic cavities]

dorsal cavity

cranial portion

vertebral portion

ventral cavity

thoracic cavity

abdominopelvic cavity

Mammalia

hair

mammary glands [modified apocrine sweat glands]

Primates

Basic terminology

physiology—the science that deals with the functioning of the body

anatomy—the science that deals with the structure of the body

gross anatomy

surface anatomy

regional anatomy

systematic anatomy

microscopic anatomy

histology

organology

developmental anatomy [ontogeny]

embryology

postnatal development

comparative anatomy [phylogeny]

homology

analogy

directional and relational terms

anatomical position

terms of direction

dorsal ventral
plantar volar
palmar
anterior posterior
medial lateral
median intermediate
external internal
superficial deep
profound
proximal distal
superior inferior
cranial caudal
rostral  

planes of reference

right and left pieces

median [midsagittal]

sagittal [parasagittal]

anterior and posterior pieces

frontal [coronal]

superior and inferior pieces

transverse [horizontal]

units of measurement

gram-meter-second

Organization of the body

cells

tissues

epithelial tissues

connective tissues

general

loose [areolar]

dense irregular

dense regular

specialized

cartilaginous tissue

osseous tissue

adipose tissue [fat]

blood

muscle tissues

skeletal muscle

cardiac muscle

smooth muscle

nervous tissue

organs

systems

integumentary

musculoskeletal

circulatory

digestive

respiratory

urinary

reproductive

nervous

sense organs

reticuloendothelial

endocrine



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