Anatomical Terminologies

• Anatomical position in humans:

  refers to the positioning of the body when it is standing, upright and facing forward with arms hanging on either side of the body and palms forward
• Animal positioning in animals:

  the animal must be lying on its back and facing forward (supine) with arms out on side
• Sagittal plane


  vertical plane that divides the body or organ into right and left sides

  -midsagittal or median plane, down the middle of the body creating equal parts
• Frontal plane


  vertical plane that divides the body or organ into an anterior/ventral or posterior/dorsal positions
• Transverse Plane


  divides the body into superior (upper) or inferior (lower) portions
• Right


  toward the body's right side
• Left


  toward the body's left side
• Inferior


  lower, below
• superior


  higher, above
• Anterior


  to go before, toward the front of the body
• Posterior


  posterus (following)

  toward the back of the body
• Dorsal


  dorsum (back)

  toward the back, synonymous with posterior
• Ventral


  venter (belly)

  toward the belly, synonymous with anterior
• Proximal


  proximus (nearest)

  closer to a point of attachment
• Distal


  di + sto (to be distant)

  farther from a point of attachment
• Lateral 


  latus (side)

  away from the midline of the body
• Medial


  medialis (middle)

  toward the midline/middle of the body
• Superficial


  superficialis (surface)

  toward or on the surface
• Deep


  deop (deep)

  away from the surface, internal
• sliced lengthwise- longitudinal or sagittal section

  sliced crosswise- transverse or cross section
• True or False. Superior and inferior are not used for animals. True
• Asymmetrical 


  irregularly shaped body, these animals are sessile
• Radial Symmetry


  divided along any plane, through central axis, into roughly equal halves, these animals are starfish or hydras
• Bilateral Symmetry


  can be divided down its length into similar right and left halves, these animals can use the anatomical terms such as posterior, ventral, etc
• the nose is inferior to the forehead
• the mouth is superior to the chin
• the teeth are anterior to the throat
• the brain is posterior to the eyes
• the spine is dorsal to the chestbone
• the navel is ventral to the spine
• the elbow is proximal to the wrist and distal to the shoulder
• the knee is distal to the hip
• the nipple is lateral to the breastbone
• the bridge of the nose is medial to the eyes
• the skin is superficial to the muscle
• the lungs are deep to the ribs