part of part of composed primarily of bony vertebral centrum http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Corpusvertebrae.png AAO:0000697 ZFA:0000126 corpus vertebra VSAO definition states it surrounds notochord but not applicable to post-natal. arcocentrum corpus vertebrae The vertebral centrum may be cartilaginous, develop as cartilage but be replaced by bone or mineralized, or form directly through intramembranous ossification.[VSAO] SCTID:362867001 NCIT:C12852 Ossified form of a vertebral centrum, a skeletal element that functionally replaces the notochord[VSAP,modified]. autocentrum vertebral body centra Wikipedia:Body_of_vertebra vertebral centra EMAPA:36588 Centra are represented by mineralized, calcified, or ossified portions that surround the notochord. The autocentrum, present in Danio and all other living teleosts, is formed by direct ossification outside the elastica externa of the notochord (Arratia, 1999).[TAO] MA:0001457 UMLS:C0223084 SCTID:361745008 corpus vertebrae (vertebrale) body of vertebra UBERON:0001075 TAO:0000126 holocentrum vertebral centrum FMA:11945 The body is the largest part of a vertebra, and is more or less cylindrical in shape. Its upper and lower surfaces are flattened and rough, and give attachment to the intervertebral fibrocartilages, and each presents a rim around its circumference. In front, the body is convex from side to side and concave from above downward. Behind, it is flat from above downward and slightly concave from side to side. Its anterior surface presents a few small apertures, for the passage of nutrient vessels. On the posterior surface is a single large, irregular aperture, or occasionally more than one, for the exit of the basi-vertebral veins from the body of the vertebra. [WP,unvetted][Wikipedia:Body_of_vertebra]. Cylindrical body of bone, round or oval in cross section, which functionally replaces the notochord.[AAO] bone element vertebra bone tissue vertebral centrum element