Editing Axial skeleton (section)

===Vertebral column===

At birth the majority of humans have 33 separate vertebrae. However, during normal development several vertebrae fuse, leaving a total of 24, in most cases.  The confusion about whether or not there are 32–34 vertebrae stems from the fact that the two lowest vertebrae, the sacrum and the coccyx, are single bones made up of several smaller bones which have fused together. This is how the vertebrae are counted: 24 separate vertebrae and the sacrum, formed from 5 fused vertebrae, and the coccyx, formed from 3–5 fused vertebrae. If you count the coccyx and sacrum each as one vertebra, then there are 26 vertebrae. If the fused vertebrae are all counted separately, then the total number of vertebrae comes to between 32 and 34 (due to the number making up the coccyx varying between 3 and 5).

The vertebral column consists of 5 parts. The most cranial (uppermost) part is made up by the [[cervical vertebrae]] (7), followed by thoracic vertebrae (12), lumbar (5), sacral (5) and coccygeal vertebrae (3–5).

Cervical vertebrae make up the junction between the vertebral column and the cranium. Sacral and coccygeal vertebrae are fused and thus often called "sacral bone" or "coccygeal bone" as unit. The sacral bone makes up the junction between the vertebral column and the pelvic bones.