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Why do almost all mammals have seven cervical vertebrae? Developmental constraints, Hox genes, and cancer.

The Journal of experimental zoology - 15 Apr 1999

Galis F

Abstract excerpt

Mammals have seven cervical vertebrae, a number that remains remarkably constant. I propose that the lack of variation is caused by developmental constraints: to wit, changes in Hox gene expression, which lead to changes in the number of cervical vertebrae, are associated with neural problems and with an increased susceptibility to early childhood cancer and stillbirths. In vertebrates, Hox genes are involved in...

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PMID: 10327647

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PubMed metadata and Literature Corpus relationships. Corpus snapshot updated 7 Sept 2026. Manifest publication-graph-cohort-2026-09-07.1.

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