hypocentrum

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. Ordinarily the same as intercentrum, a bone wedged in between the centra of the vertebræ: usually more or less wedge-shaped, and appearing on the ventral side of the vertebral column, but in the mud-fish Amia of about the same size as the true centrum. It is an important component of the vertebras in the extinct Stego-cephala. By some authorities the chevron-bones of mammals are considered as developed from the hypocentra.