Okay, here’s one that has stumped several of my Biology professors:
My question concerns the odontoid process, which is a finger-like projection that extends from the vertebra known as the atlas ( your very uppermost vertebra ) and into the spinal canal of the axis ( the vertebra which is located directly below the atlas ).
How is it that the odontoid process doesn’t pinch the spinal cord every time you look up?
It looks to me like the odontoid process is part of the axis and projects upward into the foramen of the atlas, not the other way around. In the axis and all the other vertebrae, there is a single large central foramen, but in the atlas, this area is divided into two by a transverse ligament: one foramen for the dens (a/k/a odontoid process) and one for the spinal cord. My guess is that this ligament prevents the dens from pinching the spinal cord.
Now let’s see how long it takes somebody who actually knows what he’s talking about to show up and prove me wrong.