High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The laminae of the fifth sacral vertebra, and sometimes those of the fourth, fail to meet behind, and thus a sacral hiatus occurs in the posterior wall of the sacral canal. The sacrum is a large, triangular bone at the base of the spine and at the upper and back part of the pelvic cavity, where it is inserted like a wedge between the two hip bones. Its upper part connects with the last lumbar vertebra, and bottom part with the coccyx (tailbone). In children, it consists of usually five unfused vertebrae which begin to fuse between ages 16-18 and are usually completely fused into a single bone by age 26.