A 39-year-old male presents with severe neck pain after a whiplash injury, sustained when his car was struck from behind. Radiographic studies reveal trauma to the ligament lying on the anterior surface of the cervical vertebral bodies. Which ligament is this?

The anterior longitudinal ligament lies anterior to the vertebral bodies along the vertebral column. The ligamentum flavum connects the lamina of two adjacent vertebrae. The nuchal ligament is a continuation of the supraspinous ligament above C7, which connects spinous processes. The posterior longitudinal ligament lies on the posterior edge of the vertebral bodies. The transverse cervical (cardinal) ligament is associated with the pelvic region of the body and not the spinal column.