Editing Anatomical terms of location (section)

===Planes===
{{Main|Anatomical plane}}
[[File:Human and goat anatomical planes.jpg|thumb|The standard anatomical planes of both a human and a goat displaying three anatomical planes:
{{legend|#c7dbdc|the midsagittal plane}}
{{legend|#ffc8c3|the transverse plane}}
{{legend|#ffebc1|the dorsal plane, often called the coronal or frontal plane in human anatomy}}]]

Anatomical terms describe structures with relation to four main [[anatomical plane]]s.<ref name="Gray2016"/> Anatomical planes are useful in a number of fields including [[medical imaging]], [[embryology]], and the study of movement.<ref name="libre2025">{{cite web |title=1.4D: Body Planes and Sections |url=https://med.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Anatomy_and_Physiology/Anatomy_and_Physiology_(Boundless)/1:_Introduction_to_Anatomy_and_Physiology/1.4:_Mapping_the_Body/1.4D:_Body_Planes_and_Sections |website=Medicine LibreTexts |access-date=2 March 2025 |language=en |date=18 July 2018}}</ref>

The four main planes are:

*The '''[[median plane]]''', also called the '''midsagittal plane''', divides the body into left and right parts starting from the [[sagittal suture]].<ref name="Gray2016"/> The median plane passes through the head, [[spinal cord]], [[navel]] and, in many animals, the tail.<ref name="Hyman">{{cite book |last1=Hyman |first1=Libbie Henrietta |title=Hyman's comparative vertebrate anatomy |date=1979 |publisher=Univ. of Chicago Pr |location=Chicago |isbn=9780226870113 |pages=1–6 |edition=3rd}}</ref> 
*The '''[[sagittal plane]]s''', also called the '''parasagittal planes''' or '''paramedian planes''', are planes that are parallel to the median plane.<ref name="Dyce2010"/><ref name="Moore1" />
* The '''dorsal plane''' divides the body into dorsal (towards the backbone) and ventral (towards the belly) parts.<ref>{{cite book |date=2017|title=Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria |url=https://wava-amav.org/downloads/nav_6_2017.zip |publisher=World Association of Veterinary Anatomists |edition=6|page=9 |access-date=2025-05-08}}</ref> In human anatomy '''[[coronal plane]]''' is preferred, or sometimes the '''frontal plane''', and the description may reference splitting the body into front and back parts<ref name="Gray2016"/>, but this phrasing is not as clear for animals with a horizontal spine like [[quadrupeds]] or [[fish]].
* The '''[[transverse plane]]''', also called the '''axial plane''' or '''horizontal plane''', is perpendicular to the other two planes.<ref name="Gray2016"/> In an animal with a vertical craniocaudal axis, like a human, this plane is parallel to the ground; in an animal with a horizontal craniocaudal axis, like a quadruped, the coronal plane divides the animal into anterior and posterior sections.<ref name="Kardong2019"/>

Sagittal planes and transverse planes are used as [[anatomical lines]] to delineate [[Anatomical terminology#Regions|bodily regions]]. There are several transverse planes with clinical relevance in the division of the torso into sections. They include the [[transpyloric plane]], the [[subcostal plane]],  and the [[transumbilical plane]].<ref name="medscape2025">{{cite web |title=Regions and Planes of the Abdomen: Overview, Abdominal Skin, Superficial Fascia |url=https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1923166-overview?form=fpf |access-date=10 March 2025 |date=19 February 2025}}</ref>