The tip of the coccyx is palpable at the base of the vertebral column between the gluteal masses (Fig. 2.67A).
The tips of the vertebral spinous processes do not always lie in the same horizontal plane as their corresponding vertebral bodies. In thoracic regions, the spinous processes are long and sharply sloped downward so that their tips lie at the level of the vertebral body below. In other words, the tip of the TIII vertebral spinous process lies at vertebral level TIV.