Medial (anatomy)

Standard anatomical terms of location deal unambiguously with the anatomy of animals, including humans.

All vertebrates (including humans) have the same basic body plan – they are strictly bilaterally symmetrical in early embryonic stages and largely bilaterally symmetrical in adulthood. That is, they have mirror-image left and right halves if divided down the centre. For these reasons, the basic directional terms can be considered to be those used in vertebrates. By extension, the same terms are used for many other (invertebrate) organisms as well.

While these terms are standardized within specific fields of biology, there are unavoidable, sometimes dramatic, differences between some disciplines. For example, differences in terminology remain a problem that, to some extent, still separates the terminology of human anatomy from that used in the study of various other zoological categories.

Standardized anatomical and zoological terms of location have been developed, usually based on Latin and Greek words, to enable all biological and medical scientists to precisely delineate and communicate information about animal bodies and their component organs, even though the meaning of some of the terms often is context-sensitive.

The vertebrates and Craniata share a substantial heritage and common structure, so many of the same terms are used to describe location. To avoid ambiguities this terminology is based on the anatomy of each animal in a standard way.

For humans, one type of vertebrate, anatomical terms may differ from other forms of vertebrates. For one reason, this is because humans have a different neuraxis and, unlike animals that rest on four limbs, humans are considered when describing anatomy as being in the standard anatomical position. Thus what is on "top" of a human is the head, whereas the "top" of a dog may be its back, and the "top" of a flounder could refer to either its left or its right side.

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