• 19 parts
  • Checked October 2026

Thoracic Vertebrae Labeling Quiz

A typical thoracic vertebra from above and from the side, then with its ribs in place.

Thoracic Vertebrae Labeling Quiz

Name Date

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1 of 7

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
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Write the name of each numbered part.Answer key

  1. Body
  2. Vertebral foramen
  3. Pedicle
  4. Lamina
  5. Transverse process
  6. Spinous process
  7. Superior articular process
  8. Superior costal facet
  9. Superior vertebral notch
  10. Transverse costal facet
  11. Intervertebral foramen
  12. Inferior vertebral notch
  13. Inferior costal facet
  14. Inferior articular process
  15. Head of the rib
  16. Neck of the rib
  17. Tubercle of the rib
  18. Joint of the head of the rib
  19. Costotransverse joint

Drawn for this site on 2026-10-01 from plain geometry, after the proportions of Gray's Anatomy figures 90, 312 and 313. Licence: own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a part is answered.

Next step Next: the ribs and the sternum

All 19 parts on the diagram

Show the list

From above 7

  1. Body Heart-shaped from above. It carries the weight.
  2. Vertebral foramen Small and round here. The spinal cord runs through it.
  3. Pedicle Each pedicle joins the body to the arch behind it.
  4. Lamina The two laminae close the arch behind the spinal cord.
  5. Transverse process Its club-shaped tip holds up a rib.
  6. Spinous process Long, and it slopes down over the vertebra below.
  7. Superior articular process Its flat facet faces backward to meet the vertebra above.

From the side 7

  1. Superior costal facet It meets the head of the rib with the same number.
  2. Superior vertebral notch The shallow hollow on top of the pedicle.
  3. Transverse costal facet It meets the tubercle of the rib with the same number.
  4. Intervertebral foramen A spinal nerve leaves through this opening. The notch above and the notch below make it.
  5. Inferior vertebral notch The deeper hollow under the pedicle.
  6. Inferior costal facet It meets the head of the next rib down.
  7. Inferior articular process Its facet faces forward to meet the vertebra below.

With its ribs 5

  1. Head of the rib It sits where two bodies and the disc between them meet.
  2. Neck of the rib The short stretch between the head and the tubercle.
  3. Tubercle of the rib It rests on the tip of the transverse process.
  4. Joint of the head of the rib The rib's head meets the bodies of two vertebrae here. It is also called the costovertebral joint.
  5. Costotransverse joint The rib's tubercle meets the transverse process here.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-10-01 in at least two of these, and written in our own words: Henry Gray, Anatomy of the Human Body (1918, public domain), The Thoracic Vertebrae and Costovertebral Articulations; TeachMeAnatomy, The Thoracic Spine and The Vertebral Column; Kenhub, Thoracic vertebrae; Wikipedia, Vertebra, Intervertebral foramen, Costovertebral joints and Costotransverse joint. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-01 from plain geometry, after the proportions of Gray's Anatomy (1918, public domain) figures 90, 312 and 313; nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

Three drawings of a typical thoracic vertebra: the bone from above, two of them stacked and seen from the side, and one from above with a rib on each side. The costal facets, the mark of a thoracic vertebra, are in the side view.

Read the full guide

What makes a vertebra thoracic

Four marks: a heart-shaped body, a small round vertebral foramen, a long spinous process that slopes downward, and facets for the ribs. Numbers 1 to 7, from above, are the parts every vertebra has.

Facets, notches and rib joints

Numbers 8 to 14 are on the side view: a costal facet at the top and the bottom of each body, one on the tip of each transverse process, the notch above and below each pedicle, and the opening the notches make between two bones. Numbers 15 to 19 show a rib in place, with its head against the bodies and its tubercle on the transverse process.

  • A superior costal facet takes the rib of its own number; the inferior costal facet takes the next rib down.

Questions and answers

How do you identify a thoracic vertebra?

By its costal facets: small smooth surfaces for the ribs on the sides of the body and on the transverse processes. It also has a heart-shaped body, a round vertebral foramen and a long spinous process that points downward.

Where does a rib join a thoracic vertebra?

In two places. The head of a typical rib meets the costal facets on the bodies of two vertebrae and the disc between them. Its tubercle meets the facet on a transverse process. The eleventh and twelfth ribs have no joint with a transverse process.

What is a demifacet?

A half facet. On most thoracic vertebrae the superior and inferior costal facets are demifacets: each holds half of a rib's head, and the facet of the next vertebra holds the other half.

How many thoracic vertebrae are there?

Twelve, T1 to T12, between the cervical vertebrae of the neck and the lumbar vertebrae of the lower back.

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