The knobby excrescences at the left side of this vertebral column are due to degenerative osteoarthritis. This is the pronounced "lipping" of the vertebral bodies.
Between each of the vertebral bodies is an intervertebral disc which is made of type I and type II collagen and has two parts, the annulus fibrosis, an outer fibrous ring, and the nucleus pulposus, an inner jelly-like substance.