The Skull

Question 1

Question: What part of the skeleton is within the head?

Answer 1

Answer: The skull.

Question 2

Question: What are the functions of the skull?

Answer 2

Answer: Protects the brain, supports sense organs, and forms passages for the digestive and respiratory systems.

Question 2

Question: What are the two main parts of the skull?

Answer 2

Answer: The cranial part (braincase) and the facial part.

Question 2

Question: How are the bones of the skull connected, except for the mandible?

Answer 2

Answer: By interlocking joints called sutures.

Question 3

Question: What is the characteristic appearance of suture joints?

Answer 3

Answer: Saw-toothed or serrated.

Question 3

Question: Which bones form the caudal and dorsal walls of the skull?

Answer 3

Answer: Occipital, parietal, interparietal, and frontal bones.

Question 4

Question: Which bones form the lateral and ventral walls of the skull?

Answer 4

Answer: Temporal, sphenoid, and ethmoid bones.

Question 5

Question: What is the function of the temporal bone?

Answer 5

Answer: Contains the middle and inner ears.

Question 6

Question: What is the function of the ethmoid bone?

Answer 6

Answer: Provides openings for olfactory nerves associated with the sense of smell.

Question 6

Question: What is the role of the sphenoid bone?

Answer 6

Answer: Supports the brain and pituitary gland.

Question 7

Question: What are the three regions of the facial portion of the skull?

Answer 7

Answer: Orbit, nasal, and oral.

Question 8

Question: What bones participate in forming the zygomatic arch?

Answer 8

Answer: Frontal, lacrimal, and zygomatic bones.

Question 9

Question: What is the zygomatic arch?

Answer 9

Answer: The bony arch forming the lateral wall of the orbit.

Question 10

Question: What is the function of the lacrimal fossa?

Answer 10

Answer: Collects tears and channels them to the nasal cavity through the lacrimal canal.

Question 11

Question: What is the infraorbital foramen?

Answer 11

Answer: The rostral opening of the infraorbital canal located in the maxillary bone.

Question 12

Question: What is the function of the occipital condyles?

Answer 12

Answer: Articulates with the first cervical vertebra (atlas).

Question 13

Question: What is the external acoustic meatus?

Answer 13

Answer: The large opening caudal to the zygomatic arch where the external ear attaches.

Question 14

Question: What is the nuchal crest?

Answer 14

Answer: The transverse ridge at the transition from the dorsal to the caudal surface of the skull.

Question 15

Question: What is the foramen magnum?

Answer 15

Answer: The large opening in the skull for the continuity of the spinal cord and brain.

Question 16

Question: What is the tympanic bulla?

Answer 16

Answer: The smooth, bulbous enlargement on the temporal bone housing the middle ear.

Question 17

Question: What is the hard palate composed of?

Answer 17

Answer: Horizontal parts of the incisive, palatine, and maxillary bones.

Question 18

Question: What is the hypophyseal fossa?
Answer: The depression in the sphenoid bone holding the pituitary gland.

Answer 18

Answer: The depression in the sphenoid bone holding the pituitary gland.

Question 19

Question: What is the cribriform plate, and its function?
Answer: The rostral part of the ethmoid bone containing openings for the olfactory nerve.

Answer 19

Answer: The rostral part of the ethmoid bone containing openings for the olfactory nerve.