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CHAPTER 19 III The Throat and Neck 203

Figure 19-3 • Close-up ventrodorsal view of the neck of an owl containing the bones of a small mammal in its crop.

centrally rounded dorsal elements (vertebral arches, disks, and discrete facetal joints and transverse pro-
facet joints, and rudimentary dorsal spinous processes) cesses (Figure 19-8).
(Figure 19-5). Seen from a ventrodorsal perspective,
the cervical spine resembles a string of triangle-shaped Normal Positional Variants Mimicking
beads that gradually become larger as they near the Spinal Injury
shoulder region (Figure 19-6).
Approaching maturity, the cervical spine fi lls out, The cervical spine of long slender-necked water birds,
causing the disk spaces to become much less distinct such as herons, grebes, and cormorants, can appear

and the dorsal elements to appear almost fused, espe- dislocated at points of maximum flexion, especially the
cially when the neck is imaged laterally and in an C5-6 and C6-7 spinal units (Figure 19-9). Oblique
upright position (Figure 19-7). In the opposite view, lateral projections, particularly in struggling birds,
the mature cervical spine appears more mammalian, frequently mimic serial fracture-dislocations (Figure
featuring rectangular bodies, proportionately sized 19-10).

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