AXIAL SKELETON
THE VERTEBRAL COLUMN - Cervical Vertebrae C1 = Atlas

    Clues to look for:
  1. a round hole on the transverse processes = transverse foramen (clue to identify any cervical vertebrae).
  2. no body (clue to recognise C1). This vertebra looks like a nice little ring.

The first vertebra is articulated with the skull and thus it is also called Atlas by analogie to the mythological Atlas that carried the world on his shoulder. The superior articular facets are wide and articulate with the occipital condyles of the skull.