Cranial fossa

A cranial fossa is formed by the floor of the cranial cavity.

Cranial fossa
Three cranial fossae and its boundaries.
  Purple: Anterior cranial fossa
  Blue: Middle cranial fossa
  Green: Posterior cranial fossa

Boundaries
1: Sphenoidal limbus (anterior margin of the chiasmatic groove)
2: Posterior borders of the lesser wings of the sphenoid
3: Dorsum sellae of the sphenoid bone
4: Superior borders of the petrous part of the temporal bone

5: Groove for transverse sinus of the occipital bone
Identifiers
FMA321144
Anatomical terminology

There are three distinct cranial fossae:

  • Anterior cranial fossa (fossa cranii anterior), housing the projecting frontal lobes of the brain
  • Middle cranial fossa (fossa cranii media), separated from the posterior fossa by the clivus and the petrous crest
  • Posterior cranial fossa (fossa cranii posterior), between the foramen magnum and tentorium cerebelli, containing the brainstem and cerebellum

Additional images
  • Animation.
  • Illustration.
  • Superior view and lateral view.
gollark: Surely at least part of the point of the grades you get from school/whatever is to show that you're actually qualified to do whatever subject it is.
gollark: That sounds like it would basically make the grades for the year meaningless.
gollark: They actually factory-farm alligators to make it.
gollark: HERETIC!
gollark: 12:10:45 if we're just saying the time now.

See also
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.