Morphology of the cervical vertebrae in the fetal-neonatal human skeleton.

The gross anatomical features of human cervical vertebrae during the fetal-neonatal period were investigated in order to develop morphological standards for the individual ossification centres for use in forensic and anthropological osteology. It was found that the morphology of the cervical vertebral arches and the centra cannot be used for the determination of fetal age although the dens of the axis displays some developmental differences which may be useful for the determination of fetal maturity.