Editing Anatomical terms of location (section)

===Rostral, cranial, and caudal===
[[File:Rostralcaudal.svg|thumb|right|In the [[human skull]], the terms ''rostral'' and ''caudal'' are adapted to the curved [[neuraxis]] of [[Hominidae]], ''rostrocaudal'' meaning the region on C shape connecting rostral and caudal regions.]]

Specific terms exist to describe how close or far something is to the head or tail of an animal. To describe how close to the head of an animal something is, three distinct terms are used:

* '''Rostral''' ({{ety|la|rostrum|beak, nose}}) describes something situated toward the oral or nasal region, or in the case of the brain, toward the tip of the frontal lobe.<ref name="Moore1"/><ref name="Purves1"/>
* '''Cranial''' ({{ety|el|κρανίον|skull}}) or '''cephalic''' ({{ety|el|κεφαλή|head}}) describes how close something is to the head of an organism.<ref name="Moore1"/>
* '''Caudal''' ({{ety|la|cauda|tail}}) describes how close something is to the trailing end of an organism.<ref name="Purves1"/>

These terms are generally preferred in veterinary medicine and not used as often in human medicine.<ref name="Hickman et al. 2003">Hickman, C. P. Jr., Roberts, L. S. and Larson, A. ''Animal Diversity''. McGraw-Hill 2003 {{ISBN|0-07-234903-4}}</ref><ref name="Miller 2002">Miller, S. A. ''General Zoology Laboratory Manual'' McGraw-Hill, {{ISBN|0-07-252837-0}} and {{ISBN|0-07-243559-3}}</ref> For example, in [[horse]]s, the eyes are caudal to the nose and rostral to the back of the head.<ref name="Dyce2010"/>

In humans, "cranial" and "cephalic" are used to refer to the skull, with "cranial" being used more commonly. The term "rostral" is rarely used in human [[gross anatomy]] and refers more to the front of the face than the superior aspect of the organism. But it is used in [[Embryonic development|embryology]], and [[Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy|neuroanatomy]].  Similarly, the term "caudal" is used more in embryology and neuroanatomy, and only occasionally in human gross anatomy.<ref name="Gray's"/> The "rostrocaudal axis" refers to the curved line of the  [[neuraxis]] from the forehead (rostral) towards the tail end (caudal).