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Epistropheus

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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Epistropheus

 

the second cervical vertebra in reptiles, birds, and mammals, including humans, in which case it is also called the axis. Unlike the other vertebrae, the anterior (in humans, superior) surface of the epistropheus has a toothlike process around which the first cervical vertebra (atlas) rotates.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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