The pelvic (hip) girdle transfers the weight of the upper body to the legs. It consists of a pair of coxal bones (os coxae, hip bones), each of which contains three fused bones: the ilium, ischium, and pubis. Together with the sacrum and coccyx, the pelvic girdle forms a bowl‐shaped region, the pelvis, that protects internal reproductive organs, the urinary bladder, and the lower part of the digestive tract. Features of these bones are given in Figure 1.
Figure 1. The pelvic girdle