| gill arch skeleton | Cartilages associated with the visceral portion of the embryonic mammalian chondrocranium, representing the gill arch (branchial) skeletons as seen in shark-type fishes; they are the primordia of Meckel's cartilage, the styloid, hyoid, cricoid, thyroid, and arytenoid cartilages, and the auditory ossicles. See: branchial arches. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| visceral skeleton | 1. <anatomy> Any bony formation in an organ, as in the heart, tongue, or penis of certain animals; the term also includes, according to some anatomists, the cartilaginous rings of the trachea and bronchi. 2. That part of the skeleton connected with the sense organs and the viscera. The bony framework protecting the viscera, such as the ribs and sternum, the pelvic bones, and the anterior portion of the skull. Synonym: splanchnoskeleton, visceral skeleton. Origin: Gr. An entrail + E. Skeleton. Source: Websters Dictionary (05 Mar 2000) |
| cell wall skeleton | <chemical> A mucoprotein found in the cell wall of various types of bacteria. It has adjuvant and antitumour activities and has been used to augment the production of lymphokine-activated killer (lak) cells. Pharmacological action: adjuvants, immunologic. (12 Dec 1998) |
| skeleton | <anatomy> A solid or fluid system which allows muscles to relax after contracting (in general, because there is an opposing muscle which pulls the skeletal part in the opposite direction when it contracts). The skeletal system may also be a support structure or a form of protection. Types of skeletons include hydroskeletons and exoskeletons. (09 Oct 1997) |
| skeleton appendiculare | <anatomy> The bony structure that makes up the shoulder girdle, upper extremity, pelvis and lower extremities. (10 Jan 1998) |
| skeleton axiale | Articulated bones of head and vertebral column, i.e., head and trunk, as opposed to the appendicular skeleton, the articulated bones of the upper and lower limbs. Synonym: skeleton axiale. (05 Mar 2000) |
| skeleton hand | Extension of fingers with atrophy of tissues; occurs in progressive muscular atrophy. (05 Mar 2000) |
| skeleton of free inferior limb | The bones of the lower limb except the hip bones, i.e., all lower limb bones including and distal to the femur. (05 Mar 2000) |
| skeleton of free superior limb | The bones of the upper limb except the scapula and clavicle, i.e., all upper limb bones including and distal to the humerus. (05 Mar 2000) |
| skeleton of heart | A complex framework of dense collagen forming four fibrous rings (annuli fibrosi), which surround the ostia of the valves, a right and left fibrous trigone, formed by connecting the rings, and the membranous portions of the interatrial and interventricular septa; it is found in association with the base of the ventricles, i.e., at the level of the coronary sulcus; its functions include: 1) contributing reinforcement of the valvular ostia while providing attachment for the leaflets and cusps of the valves; 2) providing origin and insertion for the myocardium; and 3) serving as a sort of electrical "insulator," separating the electrically conducted impulses of the atria and ventricles and providing passage for the common atrioventricular bundle of conductive tissue through the right fibrous trigone and membranous interventricular septum. Synonym: cardiac fibrous skeleton, cardiac skeleton, skeleton of heart. (05 Mar 2000) |
| skeleton thoracicus | An alternate term for thoracic cage. (05 Mar 2000) |
| jaw skeleton | That part of the skull derived from the embryonic pharyngeal arches; it comprises the facial bones of the facial skeleton (under bone) and is distinct from that part of the skull which forms the neurocranium or braincase. Synonym: cranium viscerale, visceral cranium, jaw skeleton, splanchnocranium. Origin: viscero-+ cranium Cartilaginous viscerocranium, those elements of the foetal skull derived from the second and succeeding pharyngeal arch cartilages. Membranous viscerocranium, membranous bones, developed in the foetal skull, that overlie maxillary and mandibular components of the first pharyngeal arch cartilage. (05 Mar 2000) |
| fibrous skeleton of heart | A complex framework of dense collagen forming four fibrous rings (annuli fibrosi), which surround the ostia of the valves, a right and left fibrous trigone, formed by connecting the rings, and the membranous portions of the interatrial and interventricular septa; it is found in association with the base of the ventricles, i.e., at the level of the coronary sulcus; its functions include: 1) contributing reinforcement of the valvular ostia while providing attachment for the leaflets and cusps of the valves; 2) providing origin and insertion for the myocardium; and 3) serving as a sort of electrical "insulator," separating the electrically conducted impulses of the atria and ventricles and providing passage for the common atrioventricular bundle of conductive tissue through the right fibrous trigone and membranous interventricular septum. Synonym: cardiac fibrous skeleton, cardiac skeleton, skeleton of heart. (05 Mar 2000) |