Skeletal System Overview and Skull Bones Vocabulary

A vocabulary flashcard deck covering bony prominences, depressions, openings, articulations, and specific anatomical landmarks of the skull from Chapter 3.

Skeletal System

The system consisting of bones and their associated cartilage and joints, serving as mineralized protective structures and a biomechanic basis for movement.

Process

A general term for any prominence on a bony surface.

Condyle

An oval prominence on a bony surface usually involved in joints.

Tuberosity

A large, often rough prominence on a bony surface.

Arch

A prominence shaped on a bony surface like a bridge with a bowlike outline.

Cornu

A small hornlike prominence on a bony surface.

Tubercle / Eminence

A small rounded elevation on a bony surface.

Crest

A prominent, often roughened border or ridge on a bony surface.

Spine

An abrupt small prominence on a bony surface that may be a blunt or sharply pointed projection.

Incisura / Notch

An indentation at the edge of a bone.

Sulcus

A shallow depression or groove on a bony surface that usually marks the course of blood vessels or nerves.

Fossa

A generally deeper depression or concavity on a bony surface.

Plate

A flat bony structure of a bone that is neither a prominence nor a depression.

Foramen

A short windowlike opening in a bone.

Canal

A longer, narrow tubelike opening in a bone.

Meatus

A type of canal in a bone.

Fissure

A narrow cleftlike opening in a bone.

Articulation

An area of the skeleton where bones are joined to each other.

Joint

A site of a junction or union between two or more bones.

Suture

The union of bones joined by fibrous tissue that appears on the dry skull as a jagged line.

Cranium

The division of the skull that contains the brain with its outer shell of cranial bone.

Optic Canal

The round opening in the orbital apex lying between the two roots of the lesser wing of the sphenoid bone.

Superior Orbital Fissure

A curved slitlike opening between the greater and lesser wings of the sphenoid bone through which cranial nerves III, IV, VI, and the ophthalmic nerve and vein travel.

Inferior Orbital Fissure

An opening seen between the greater wing of the sphenoid bone and the maxilla through which the inferior ophthalmic vein travels.

Orbital Rim

The mostly sharp edge of the orbital opening that forms the peripheral border of the base of the pyramid-shaped orbit.

Nasion

A cephalometric midpoint landmark located at the junction of the frontal and nasal bones.

Piriform Aperture

The large, triangular anterior opening of the nasal cavity.

Nasal Conchae

Three scroll-like projecting structures (superior, middle, inferior) extending inward from the maxilla into each lateral wall of the nasal cavity.

Nasal Meatus

A channel protected by each nasal concha through which paranasal sinuses or the nasolacrimal duct communicate with the nasal cavity.

Nasal Septum

The vertical partition or fin that divides the nasal cavity into two parts.

Deviated Septum

A condition occurring when the thin wall forming the nasal septum inside the nose is displaced to one side.

Temporal Lines

Two separate parallel ridges crossing both the frontal and parietal bones on the lateral external surface of the skull.

Zygomatic Arch

The cheekbone formed by the union of the zygomatic process of the temporal bone and the temporal process of the zygomatic bone.

Hard Palate

A bony structure formed from the palatine processes of the maxillae anteriorly and the horizontal plates of the palatine bones posteriorly.

Choanae

The two funnel-shaped cavities forming the posterior nasal apertures at the posterior edge of the hard palate.

Hamulus

A thin curved process located at the inferior part of the medial plate of the pterygoid process.

Foramen Ovale

A larger anterior oval opening on the sphenoid bone for the mandibular nerve.

Foramen Spinosum

A small opening adjacent to the foramen ovale that carries the middle meningeal artery into the cranial cavity.

Stylomastoid Foramen

An opening immediately posterior to the styloid process through which the seventh cranial (facial) nerve exits the skull to the face.

Jugular Foramen

An opening medial to the styloid process through which pass the internal jugular vein and cranial nerves IX, X, and XI.

Foramen Magnum

The largest opening located in the occipital bone through which the spinal cord, vertebral arteries, and eleventh cranial nerve pass.

Cribriform Plate

A perforated structure of the ethmoid bone with foramina for the first cranial (olfactory) nerve.

Paranasal Sinuses

Paired, air-filled cavities in bone that project into surrounding bones, including the frontal, sphenoidal, ethmoidal, and maxillary sinuses.