including holes small and large, ridges, divots, flat spots, sutures (seams between two bones), and other features. In number of actual bones, the cat skull is simple; Amia, the bowfin, has over twice as many.

Even something as simple as an ulna (the thicker of your forearm bones) has numerous landmarks which, of course, we had to recognize and name. When all else fails, reach for the mnemonic device: Old Tennessee nurses copulate like stoned penguins. Olecranon, Trochlear Notch, Radial Notch, Coronoid Process, Lateral Styloid Process. I had several, for various bones, most of which (the mnemonics, not the bones) were both silly and obscene. Any port in a storm. And yes, I made up the ulna one.

The cat's pectoral girdle includes a suspended clavicle. That plus the surrounding muscles form an elegant shock-absorbing suspension system that would have allowed Gizmo to jump out of a tree and land on all fours with far less chance of injury than you or I. Let's jump, shall we?

Details (including a nice link to phylogeny) or Index