sternum

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sternum (ster'-num). (a) In birds, mammals, and their closest extinct relatives, the ventral midsagittal bone with which the distal ends of most anterior ribs and proximal elements of the pectoral girdle articulate. (b) The ventral surface of the body, of a single tagma, or of a somite of an arthropod; the whole ventral wall of the thorax of an arthropod (as of an arachnid). Pl: sterna.

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