A group of bones comprised of hyoid body and two pairs of cornua (i.e. greater cornua and lesser cornua), and lies just below the tongue, above the thyroid cartilage.
Comment:
[taxon-note] "In most mammals, including humans, the hyoid apparatus is shaped like a horseshoe. However, in humans, some of the bones of the hyoid apparatus are fused into a single bone called os hyoideum. In other animals such as frogs, the hyoid apparatus has a hyoid body that is chiefly comprised of hyaline cartilage and two pairs of processes (i.e. alary process and the posteriolateral process)."
Synonyms:
related_synonym:
apparatus hyobranchialis; apparatus hyoideus; hyobranchial apparatus; hyolingual system