Ossification of the Atlas‐Axis Complex in the Dog*

Skeleton preparations of 200 Beagles of known age, ranging from embryos at 28 days of age to 10 year old adults were studied. Preparations of gross specimens were examined with the aid of Alizarin red staining, binocular dissection and histological sections. Ossification centers for the components of the atlas and axis were identified and followed to their fusion. The developmental ossification sequence for these bones is described and compared with that of other similar studies in other species.