pectoral girdle

American  

noun

1. (in vertebrates) a bony or cartilaginous arch supporting the forelimbs.

2. Also called shoulder girdle.  (in humans) the bony arch formed by the clavicles, or collarbones, and scapulas, or shoulder blades.

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pectoral girdle British  

noun

1. a skeletal support to which the front or upper limbs of a vertebrate are attached

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Etymology

Origin of pectoral girdle

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pectoral girdle

At first, the pectoral girdle enabled gill-lifting muscles to better open the mouth, leading to the evolution of diverse fish feeding systems, Brazeau says.

From Science Magazine ● Nov. 1, 2023

Fast forward 100 million years, and fish called placoderms swam the seas, with jaws and a primitive “shoulder” or pectoral girdle supporting paired front fins.

From Science Magazine ● Nov. 1, 2023

Known placoderms have at most five gill arches, others having evolved into jaws and the hyoid, so the pectoral girdle derives from what was once the sixth gill arch, Brazeau’s team concludes.

From Science Magazine ● Nov. 1, 2023

Discuss the sequence of bones and joints that convey the forces passing from your hand, through your upper limb and your pectoral girdle, and to your axial skeleton.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013

Clavicle, klav′i-kl, n. an important part of the pectoral girdle of vertebrates, best known in the collar-bone of man and in the merry-thought of birds—also Clavic′ula.—adj.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various