Osteology of the cranial base and pterygomaxillary fossa Visualize the Media Gallery The infratemporal fossa has two critical bone surgical landmarks. The first is the lateral pterygoid plate's root. This plate acts as a marker for both the foramen rotundum, which is immediately anterior, and the foramen ovale, which is immediately posterior. Once the foramen ovale has been located, the foramen spinosum is directly posterior to it. The second marker is the sphenoid spine, which aids in recognizing the cervical ICA and carotid canal at their highest point. The sphenoid spine is located posterior to the foramen spinosum, just medial to the condylar or glenoid fossa.
In humans, the occipital bone serves as the base of the skull, with a central aperture (foramen magnum) for the spinal cord to pass through. The parietal and temporal bones create the sides and highest section of the cranium's dome, while the frontal bone forms the forehead; the sphenoid and ethmoid bones constitute the cranial floor. The facial region is comprised of the zygomatic, or malar, bones (cheekbones), which connect to the temporal and maxillary bones to create the zygomatic arch behind the eye socket; the palatine bone; and the maxillary, or upper jaw, bones. The vomer with the nasal, lachrymal, and turbinate bones comprise the nasal cavity. Sutures (joints) between the different skull parts are loose in babies, but they fuse together with maturity. Numerous animals, including the dog, have a sagittal crest running across the center of the skull; this offers an additional attachment point for the temporal muscles that seal the jaws.
[edit] Variations
The cartilaginous viscerocranium (i.e., splanchnocranial components), such as the hyoid bone, is sometimes regarded to be a component of the face skeleton. The ethmoid (or a portion of it) and sphenoid bones are sometimes included, but are otherwise regarded to be part of the neurocranium. Because the maxillary bones are fused together, they are often referred to as a single bone. Generally, the mandible is regarded distinct from the skull.
Anatomy of the Skull (marine mammals)
To have a better understanding of skull anatomy, take a time to examine your own face in a mirror. The structures above the ; neck are responsible for acquiring and initially digesting nutrition, exchanging breathing gases, acquiring sensory information about light, sound, touch, odor, and taste, and broadcasting information about your own thoughts and emotions. Sensory and motor information is processed and sent from this location in order to coordinate bodily operations. Complex messages may be sent to other members of our species through vocalizations and/or facial muscle movements. The head serves as our window to the world, providing touch, perception, and communication, while the skull serves as the framework, the organizing core, for the head. As such, the skull is fascinating in and of itself. It is also critical to our understanding of evolutionary biology. This article discusses the morphology of the marine animals' skulls (see Reynolds et al, 1999).
Last's Regional and Applied Anatomy, 12th Edition, Churchill Livingstone Elsevier, Chapter 8 Osteology of the Skull and Hyoid bone, pages 504 and 510.
Adam, Richard L. Drake, A. Wayne Vogl. Gray's Anatomy for Students, Second Edition, Churchill Livingstone Elsevier, Chapter 8 Head and Neck, pages 878 and 885.
