The axial skeleton contains 80 bones, including the skull, spine and rib cage. It forms the central structure of the skeleton, with the function of protecting the brain, spinal cord, heart and lungs.

The axial skeleton consists of the bones of the skull ... The skull also supports the structure of the face and contains the eye sockets, nasal bones, temporal bone protecting the structures of the ...

An adult’s skeleton contains 206 bones ... the skeletal system can be broken down into two parts, known as the axial skeleton and the appendicular skeleton. The adult axial skeleton consists ...

If we are correct and the axial morphology did not permit lateral trunk flexion in Ichthyostega, two gaits seem theoretically possible: ‘walking’ with diagonally synchronized limb movements ...