Scapula

A shoulder blade, not part of the backbone

The scapula is a flat, triangular bone behind the shoulder. Together with the clavicle, it forms the shoulder girdle.

Here you can turn the entire bone over without changing its anatomical identity. The Front and Back buttons provide camera presets, not labels for separate bones.

Sources: OpenStax · shoulder girdle

Spine, acromion, coracoid and glenoid

The spine is a posterior ridge that continues laterally into the acromion. The coracoid projects anteriorly. The shallow lateral socket is the glenoid cavity.

These names describe features of a single bone. Selecting the scapula highlights them together; there are no individual landmark hotspots in this version.

Sources: OpenStax · shoulder girdle

Two bony connections to compare

The glenoid receives the humeral head. The acromion meets the clavicle. The scapula does not form a direct synovial joint with the ribs.

Both humerus and clavicle are available in this scene, but the rib cage is absent. It is not a complete view of the shoulder blade against the chest wall.

Front, Back and Oblique change the camera only. The bone positions stay fixed; this scene does not demonstrate joint motion, cartilage contact or ligament tension.

Sources: OpenStax · shoulder girdle

Use the processes to connect to muscle studies

Coracobrachialis and the short head of biceps begin at the coracoid. The long head of triceps begins below the socket at the infraglenoid tubercle.

All three are available in this arm subset. Their meshes let you compare positions, but they do not paint the full attachment areas on the scapula.

The acromial and spinal deltoid guides provide another way to connect a muscle’s name with a landmark. Many other shoulder muscles are absent, so this is not a complete attachment map.

Sources: Arm anatomy tables

Read the model

Explore scapula in 3D

1. Find the posterior ridge. Choose Back, then drag the isolated scapula to compare its two surfaces. Zoom is useful, but cannot restore fine detail absent from the source geometry.
2. Compare the neighboring bones. Choose Show context, select Scapula and enable Fade others. Alternate with Clavicle and Humerus to orient the shoulder-side connections.
3. Follow a named process. Select Coracobrachialis or the short head of biceps in the list. Compare the proximal position with the scapula, then open the selected structure’s page.

Sources and editorial status

This guide uses independently written explanations with links to the evidence behind them. Source checking and specialist anatomical review are separate steps; the latter is still pending.

1. OpenStax — Anatomy and Physiology 2e, 8.1: The Pectoral Girdle

   Clavicle and scapula: orientation, landmarks and articulations. Used to check anatomical facts; no source prose or illustrations reproduced.

2. Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso — Axilla, Posterior Shoulder, & Arm

   Osteology and muscle rows: selected bony landmarks and muscle attachments, not a complete attachment inventory.

3D geometry and its separate license are credited beneath the viewer. References do not imply endorsement of this site.