| Summary: | In human anatomy, the pelvis (plural pelves or pelvises) is the part of the trunk inferioposterior (below-behind) to the abdomen in the transition area between the trunk (torso) and the lower limbs (legs). The term is used to denote several structures: the structure connecting the spine to the femurs (thigh bones), the pelvic cavity, the space enclosed by the pelvic girdle, subdivided into o the greater or false pelvis (inferior part of the abdominal cavity) and D the lesser or true pelvis which provides the skeleton for the perineum and the pelvic cavity (which are separated by the pelvic diaphragm), the pelvic region. In the adult human, the pelvis is formed in the area of the back (posterior dorsal), by the sacrum and the coccyx (the caudal portion of the axial skeleton), and laterally and anteriorly (forward and to the side), by a pair of hip bones, the lower extremity, (parts of the appendicular skeleton). In an adult human being, the pelvis is thus composed of three large bones, and the coccyx (3-5 bones); however, before puberty, each hip bone consists of three discrete (separate) bones - the ilium, ischium, pubis - that have yet to fuse at adulthood; thus, in puberty, the human pelvis can comprise more than 10 bones, depending upon the composition of the person's coccyx.
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