THE 19 MAIN BRANCHES OF ANATOMY - SCIENCE - 2026

Some of the branches of anatomy are descriptive, topographic, comparative, microscopic, macroscopic, artistic, morphological or vegetal. Anatomy is the science that studies the macroscopic structures of living things. Its shape, topography, location, arrangement and relationship of the organs that make up the bodies.

The term anatomy is used both for the structure of the bodies of living beings and to call the branch of biology that studies them. Anatomy focuses on an examination of the architecture of bodies, so that sometimes the limits of its study are interspersed with the so-called morphological sciences which are developmental biology, histology and anthropology.

Already in the Ancient Age corpses were dissected to find out how the bodies of living beings functioned. In the Middle Ages, the Galenic teachings of anatomy were followed with few dissections of corpses since in many countries it was considered witchcraft.

The study of anatomy began in the Modern Age through the dissection of corpses to increase knowledge about the body. With the invention of the microscope, anatomy experienced a great boom and microscopic anatomy began to develop.

Covering such a large field of study, anatomy is subdivided into several branches.

Main branches of the anatomy

Descriptive or systematic anatomy

This branch of anatomy subdivides the body into systems and studies them by describing their situation, shape, relationship between their parts, constitution and structure.

It establishes divisions by systems or devices where it carries out an in-depth study of each one of them. For example, the skeletal system with its muscles and ligaments or blood and lymphatic vessels, etc.

Topographic or regional anatomy

Like descriptive anatomy, it also divides the body into regions and studies the relationships that exist within each region.

The four regions into which human topographic anatomy is divided are the head region, the trunk region, the upper limb region, and the lower limb region. The trunk region is also divided into two parts, the abdomen and the thorax.

Comparative anatomy

Comparative anatomy is responsible for studying the similarities of living beings and the differences in their anatomy.

Study the differences of living things and try to find out the common characteristics that different groups of living things have.

Microscopic anatomy

Microscopic anatomy, also known as histology, is the discipline that studies organic tissues, their microscopic structure, their development and functions. He not only studies tissues but also what they are made of.

This branch of anatomy is essential for medical studies to understand the pathological processes that occur in the body.

Radiological anatomy

In this branch of anatomy radiological or imaging techniques are used to study the deeper organic structures.

Anatomohistology

In this branch of anatomy, the structure of tissues in relation to their anatomical arrangement is the focus of study.

Macroscopic anatomy

Unlike microscopic anatomy that requires the use of instruments to be able to see the parts studied, macroscopic anatomy is responsible for the study of the organs and organ systems of living beings.

Developmental anatomy

Also called embryology, it is responsible for studying the process of embryonic development of living beings.

For an embryo to start, it requires fertilization that causes the zygote. Embryology studies all this process and that of the formation of the embryo until its maturity.

Clinical anatomy

It is also known as applied anatomy and the health sciences are based on it to proceed to the clinic of a patient since it compares the healthy structures of the human body with the damaged ones to establish the corresponding diagnosis and treatment.

Surface anatomy

This branch of anatomy studies the external characteristics of the body. This anatomy does not require cadaver dissection, since it can be studied with the naked eye. It is a descriptive science that is based on shape, proportions, and reference points.

This anatomy also includes the theories of body proportions and related artistic canons.

Odontal anatomy

It refers to a very specialized study within dentistry because it seeks to investigate the details of the oral cavity.

Pathological anatomy

This anatomy is responsible for the study of the transmission, development and consequences of diseases. It is one of the pillars of medicine, since it is responsible for the interpretation of the symptoms of diseases.

Doctors need to find the alterations that diseases produce in patients through exploration.

The study of pathological anatomy allows patient examinations to be less invasive by having knowledge of the pattern of the pathogen.

Artistic anatomy

This branch of anatomy is responsible for studying the measurements of the body, its constitution and training and then applying them to the artistic field.

They manage to study the canon and the proportions of the body of living beings to make an application to art as real as possible.

Morphological anatomy

This branch of anatomy studies the external shapes of bodies but differs from topographic anatomy in that morphology studies shapes as an artistic and not a medical basis.

And over time it has managed to carve an important niche in the anatomy branches studied, being one of the most studied today.

Plant anatomy

Anatomy, being such a large branch, has ended up specializing in large groups of living beings. Plant anatomy studies plants, their tissues and their internal cellular structure.

Normally when talking about plant anatomy, it is understood that you need an optical microscope for study.

Animal anatomy

Another of the great branches of anatomy that has had to separate to deepen its study due to the extensiveness of its field.

Study the shape, arrangement and relationships of the different parts of the bodies of animals.

Being such an extensive branch of anatomy, it has several subdivisions that are: fish anatomy, amphibian anatomy, bird anatomy, mammalian anatomy, invertebrate anatomy and arthropod anatomy.

It has a sub-branch, veterinary anatomy, which focuses on the study of the comparative anatomy of domestic animals.

Human anatomy

It is the science that studies the macroscopic structures of the human body. It studies the structures of the human body by systems, such as the skeletal, nervous, vascular, etc.

Functional anatomy

The objective of this part of the anatomy is to study, in a physiological way, the structure of the human body.

Neuroanatomy

It is a specialization of the neurosciences that is responsible for studying the functioning of the nervous system and the sense organs in their clinical, descriptive and topographic aspects.

References

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4. GRAY, Henry. Anatomy of the human body. Lea & Febiger, 1878.
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