Can you imagine living without the vertebrae in your neck?
Surely no animal on earth has a backbone that doesn't connect
with its skull. Think again ... Larval (baby) fishes have
skeletons made of cartilage. As the fish grows the cartilage
ossifies (changes to bone). In the vast majority of bony fishes
most of the flexible 'spinal support' (the notochord) is totally
replaced by bone. It has been known for many years that the
stomiid fishes (bearded dragonfishes) have a region of 'spine'
behind the head that lacks vertebrae. This region, called the
occipito-vertebral gap, is clearly visible as a blue strip*
between the skull and the red coloured vertebrae in the top
image. In the early 20th century it was proposed that this gap
allowed the fish to bend its head backwards to an extraordinary
degree, allowing it to efficiently swallow large prey. Nalani
Schnell (University of Tuebingen), Dave Johnson (USNM,
Washington) and Ralf Britz (NHM, London) were awarded the
Reinhard Rieger Award for excellence in research