In arthropod

Arthropod

An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton , a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods are members of the phylum Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others...

 and vertebrate

Vertebrate

Vertebrates are animals that are members of the subphylum Vertebrata . Vertebrates are the largest group of chordates, with currently about 58,000 species described. Vertebrates include the jawless fishes, bony fishes, sharks and rays, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds...

 anatomy

Anatomy

Anatomy is a branch of biology and medicine that is the consideration of the structure of living things. It is a general term that includes human anatomy, animal anatomy , and plant anatomy...

, the vertex (or cranial vertex) refers to the upper surface of the head.

In humans, the vertex is formed by four bones of the skull

Human skull

The human skull is a bony structure, skeleton, that is in the human head and which supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.In humans, the adult skull is normally made up of 22 bones...

: the frontal bone

Frontal bone

The frontal bone is a bone in the human skull that resembles a cockleshell in form, and consists of two portions:* a vertical portion, the squama frontalis, corresponding with the region of the forehead....

, the two parietal bone

Parietal bone

The parietal bones are bones in the human skull which, when joined together, form the sides and roof of the cranium. Each bone is roughly quadrilateral in form, and has two surfaces, four borders, and four angles. It is named from the Latin pariet-, wall....

s, and the occipital bone

Occipital bone

The occipital bone, a saucer-shaped membrane bone situated at the back and lower part of the cranium, is trapezoidal in shape and curved on itself...

. These bones are connected by the coronal suture

Coronal suture

The coronal suture is a dense, fibrous connective tissue joint that separates the frontal and parietal bones of the skull. At birth, the bones of the skull do not meet.-Pathology:...

 between the frontal and parietal bones, the sagittal suture

Sagittal suture

The sagittal suture is a dense, fibrous connective tissue joint between the two parietal bones of the skull. The term is derived from the Latin word Sagitta, meaning "arrow". The derivation of this term may be demonstrated by observing how the sagittal suture is notched posteriorly, like an arrow,...

 between the two parietal bones, and the lambdoid suture

Lambdoid suture

The lambdoid suture is a dense, fibrous connective tissue joint on the posterior aspect of the skull that connects the parietal and temporal bones with the occipital bone.Its name comes from its lambda-like shape....

 between the parietal and occipital bones. Vertex baldness refers to a form of male pattern baldness in which the baldness is limited to the vertex, resembling a tonsure

Tonsure

Tonsure is the traditional practice of Christian churches of cutting or shaving the hair from the scalp of clerics, monastics, and, in the Eastern Orthodox Church, all baptized members...

. In childbirth

Childbirth

Childbirth is the culmination of a human pregnancy or gestation period with the birth of one or more newborn infants from a woman's uterus...

, vertex birth refers to the common head-first presentation of the baby, as opposed to the buttocks-first position of a breech birth

Breech birth

A breech birth is the birth of a baby from a breech presentation. In the breech presentation the baby enters the birth canal with the buttocks or feet first as opposed to the normal head first presentation....

.

In entomology

Entomology

Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of arthropodology...

, the color, shape and structures arising from an insect's vertex are commonly used in identifying species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

.