50 COMPARATIVE MORPHOLOGY OF VERTEBRATES. 



the rib behind and strengthening the thorax. In the chelonia the ribs 

 are confined to the dorsal side of the body and are fused to the costal 

 plates (dermal skeleton) to form the carapace. Single- and double- 

 headed ribs often occur in the same individual of various groups, and 

 in the mammals the capitular head, instead of articulating with a 

 distinct parapophysis, may rest in a socket formed by two successive 

 vertebrae. 



FIG. 54. Sacral vertebrae, ribs and pelvis of Trionyx, obliquely from below. /, head and 

 rochanter of femur; il, ilium; is, ischium; p, pubis; sr, sacral ribs; sv, sacral vertebrae. 



The pelvis is never directly united to the sacrum, but sacral ribs 

 intervene. These are distinct in the reptiles (fig. 54), but are fused to 

 the transverse processes in other groups. 



THE STERNUM (BREASTBONE). 



The sternum includes the skeletal parts on the ventral side of the 

 body, which are closely connected with the shoulder girdle and, except 

 in the amphibia, with the ribs. The fact that it occurs only in verte- 

 brates with legs (it is lacking in snakes and caecilians) shows that it has 

 arisen in adaptation to terrestrial locomotion. In man it consists of 

 three parts, a manubrium in front, a middle piece (gladiolus) > and a 

 xiphoid (ensiform) process behind, and these terms have been car- 

 ried into other groups. 



In development the sternum arises in mammals by the formation of a longi- 

 tudinal bar of cartilage in the linea alba on either side, ventral (medial) to the ends 



