| The axial skeleton is rigid and may or may not contact the carapace. |
| Notochords are the axial skeleton of invertebrate chordates, of agnathan fish, and of amphibian tadpoles. |
| There is only a rudimentary axial skeleton and no appendicular skeleton, so there are no limb muscles. |
| The postcranial axial skeleton in mammals generally has remained rather conservative during the course of evolution. |
| The appendicular skeleton is also dependent on the stability of the axial skeleton, upon which it operates. |
| The vertebrate axial skeleton is much more than a series of vertebrae coupled with the connecting intervertebral disc tissues. |
