6th Cervical Vertebrae of Ox Anatomy with Diagram

The 6th cervical vertebrae of ox show little different osteological features than typical. If you want to know the unique features of the 6th cervical vertebra from the ox neck, this article is for you.

The 6th cervical vertebra of an ox (sixth) possesses body, arch, and processes like the typical vertebrae. You will find the 2 parts in the transverse process of the sixth cervical vertebra, where the ventral part is a quadrilateral plate-like bone.

Here, I will also show the major differences between the horse and ox’s sixth cervical vertebrae with the diagram. So, let’s continue the article till the end to get the full osteological facts of the 6th cervical vertebra of animals.

6th cervical vertebrae of ox

There are seven (7) cervical vertebrae in the neck of an ox. Here, the 6th cervical vertebrae of an ox have the body, arch, and processes, but it show little atypical features.

First, it will be better if you try to identify the below-mentioned osteological features from the sixth cervical vertebra of an ox. Here, I tried to enlist the all-important and unique facts from the sixth cervical vertebra –

• The shorter and wider body of the sixth cervical vertebra,
• Small ventral crest from the body,
• Caudal larger arches (pedicle and lamina),
• Three major processes of the 6th cervical vertebra,
• Cranial and caudal thick and short articular processes,
• The well-developed spinous process of the sixth cervical vertebrae,
• Two parts from the transverse process (dorsal and ventral), and
• Larger foramen transversarium of sixth cervical vertebra,

The transverse process of the 6^th (sixth) cervical vertebra of a few animals shows 3 (three) parts (dorsal, cranial, and ventral). Sometimes the ventral spine of the sixth cervical vertebra is absent in ox or cows.

I hope you will identify all these above-mentioned osteological features from the bovine sixth cervical vertebra. This might help you to differentiate the osteological features between the sixth cervical and other cervical vertebrae.

Unique features of sixth cervical vertebrae of ox

Now, let’s enlist some of the unique osteological features of the sixth cervical vertebra of an ox. But you might read to full features of the 6th cervical vertebra in the next part of this article.

The suggested article from anatomy learner that might help you to differentiate the sixth cervical from a typical vertebra –

• Typical vertebra of ox – osteological facts of body, arches, and processes with diagram,

Okay, the unique facts of sixth cervical vertebra are –

• The body of this bone is short but wide compared to other vertebral bones in the neck,
• You will find the well-developed and short spinous process, which is also different than the other cervical vertebrae,
• There are well-developed articular processes in the structure of the sixth cervical vertebra,
• The transverse process shows two distinct divisions – dorsal and ventral,
• Here, the ventral part of the transverse process is in the form of a quadrilateral plate (the most unique feature),
• The transverse foramen (known as the foramen transversarium) is larger compared to the previous cervical vertebrae,

I hope these enlisted features of the sixth cervical vertebrae of an ox might help you to differentiate it from others.

6th cervical vertebrae of ox anatomy

I will describe the anatomy of the 6th cervical vertebrae of the ox with a diagram. Here, you might describe the followings from the sixth cervical bone –

• Anatomical facts of the body with its exceptional features,
• Osteological facts of the arches (both lamina and pedicle), and
• Osteological facts of the processes with their unique structures,

Let’s discuss the structure of the sixth cervical vertebra’s body.

Body of sixth cervical vertebra

The body of the sixth cervical vertebra shows almost similar osteological features to the previous bone (5th cervical). Here, the body is cylindrical but much shorter and wider than the previous cervical vertebrae.

But, the body of this cervical vertebra differs from the bodies of the axis and atlas vertebrae. You may get an idea of the body of the ox atlas vertebra from the below-mentioned article –

• Atlas of ox – anatomy of a first cervical vertebra of cows with diagram,

The body of the sixth cervical vertebra represents two extremities and two surfaces –

• Extremities of the sixth cervical vertebra’s body – cranial and caudal, and
• Surfaces of the sixth cervical vertebra’s body – dorsal, ventral,

Here, the cranial extremity of the body is concave, and the caudal extremity is concave like other cervical vertebrae of the series. The dorsal surface of the sixth cervical bone forms the floor of the neural ring.

Again, the ventral surface of the sixth cervical vertebra is constricted. But the ventral spine is not developed in this bone. Sometimes, you will not find any ventral spine in the structure of the 6th cervical vertebra of cows.

Arches of the sixth cervical vertebra

Like other vertebrae, you will also find the arches (right and left) in the structure of the sixth cervical vertebra. And you know, the arches of this vertebra consist of the ventral pedicle and dorsal lamina.

The arch is more developed in the caudal part of this vertebra. You will find the notches at both cranial and caudal extremities of the pedicle of the sixth cervical vertebrae.

These notches form the intervertebral foramina with both the 5th and 7th cervical vertebrae of the neck.

Processes of 6th cervical vertebrae of ox

In the structure of the sixth cervical vertebra of an ox, you will find three well-developed processes –

• Articular processes – well-developed,
• Spinous process – well-developed and arises from the junction of two laminae, and
• Transverse process – has a unique ventral segment,

Both cranial and caudal articular processes are present in the structure of the sixth cervical vertebra. The caudal articular process is thick and short compared to the cranial articular process.

Both this cranial and caudal articular process possess the articular surfaces like other cervical vertebrae (3rd, 4th, and 5th).

The spinous process (Sp) of the sixth cervical vertebra is well-developed and shows lateral compression. It is comparatively longer than the spinous processes of other typical cervical vertebrae.

The transverse process of the sixth cervical (6^th) vertebra of an ox is divided into 2 segments –

• Dorsal segment or part – is typical and directed caudally, and
• Ventral segment or part – is in the form of a quadrilateral plate of bone,

Like other cervical vertebrae, you will also find the foramen transversarium that passes through the transverse process. But, this is an exceptionally larger foramen compared to the other cervical vertebrae.

6th cervical vertebra of ox diagram

Now, let’s see the different views of the 6th cervical vertebrae of an ox with diagrams. The diagrams identify the cranial and caudal ends of the sixth cervical vertebra’s body.

Again, I tried to identify the exceptional spinous process, ventral part of the transverse process, and foramen transversarium from this diagram. You may find more labeled diagrams on the sixth cervical vertebrae of different animals on social media of anatomy learners.

What are the typical cervical vertebrae of an ox?

The third, fourth, and fifth (3rd, 4th, and 5th) cervical vertebrae are considered the typical vertebrae of an ox. They all possess the ideal osteological features in their bodies, arches, and processes.

You may easily compare 1^st, 2^nd, 6^th, and 7^th cervical vertebrae with the help of typical features of a vertebra. Again, you may easily understand the unique features of thoracic and lumbar vertebrae compared to the typical cervical vertebrae.

Again, the sacrum, considered the false single vertebra in animals, can also be studied compared with typical cervical vertebrae.

Suggested article from anatomy learner regarding this atypical sixth cervical vertebra –

• The sacrum of an ox – how many sacral vertebrae does an ox have?

What do the 6th cervical vertebrae do in ox?

The 6th cervical vertebra contributes to forming the cervical spine in the ox. Again, the cranial end of the body of the sixth cervical vertebra articulates with the caudal end of the fifth cervical vertebra’s body.

Together they form the amphiarthrosis articulation. Again, the caudal end of the body also forms a similar type of articulation with the cranial end of the seventh cervical vertebra’s body.

6th cervical vertebrae of horse

The 6th cervical vertebrae of horses also show unique osteological features compared to these of cows. Most of the unique features are found in the structure of the transverse process and ventral crest of the body.

Here, the transverse process of the horse’s sixth cervical vertebrae possesses 3 (three) segments – dorsal, middle, and ventral. The ventral segment of the transverse process is not typically quadrilateral like the ox.

Again, the spinous process of the sixth cervical vertebrae of a horse is rudimentary. Let’s see all the differentiating osteological facts between horse and ox sixth cervical vertebrae from Table 1 –

Features	6th cervical vertebra of horse	6th cervical vertebra of ox
Spinous process	Rudimentary	Well-developed Cranially directed
Transverse process	3 segments Dorsal, Middle, and Ventral – not quadrilateral	2 segments Dorsal – caudally directed, Ventral – quadrilateral
Ventral crest	Small	Rudimentary

Conclusion

So, the 6th cervical vertebrae of the ox are different in their spinous and transverse processes. The unique larger foramen transversarium is also an important identifying feature of this sixth cervical vertebra.

The provided diagrams and other osteological features might help you to differentiate the ox 6th cervical vertebrae from others. Finally, the important differentiating point between horse and ox sixth cervical vertebrae is the presence of segments on their transverse processes.