Nature and Uses of Primary Data Sources Page 1 of 14 ______________________________________________________________________.
cranial nerve - any of the 12 paired nerves that originate in the brain stem. 1  nerve, nervus - any bundle of nerve fibers running to various organs and tissues of the body. 2  first cranial nerve, nervii olfactorii, olfactory nerve - a collective term for numerous olfactory filaments in the nasal mucosa.
Cranial and caudal. Cranial refers to the head end and caudal to the tail end. Anterior and posterior. In a quadruped the terms are synonymous with cranial and caudal. In a biped (Homo) anterior is used to indicate the ventral surface and posterior to indicate the dorsal surface. You must be careful to use these terms properly for each organism. (Compare pig and human). Superior and inferior. These terms are the equivalents of cranial and caudal in Homo. Superior means toward the head and inferior toward the feet. These terms are not used for quadrupeds. Right and left. Although these may seem obvious, remember that these terms always refer to the specimen's right or left. Proximal and distal.