Each presacral vertebra has on either side an inferior and superior articular process at the junction of each pedicle and lamina.
Within the spinal column, opposing zygapophyses on stacked vertebrae form synovial joints. Each process has an articular facet covered in cartilage. The capsule between zygapophyses is fibrous on the outside and lined by a synovial membrane.
The zygoapophysial joints have a small role in weight-bearing but their predominant role is in movement, preventing movement of a superior vertebra on the vertebra below but permitting to variable degrees:
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