anatomical point connecting sagittal and lambdoidal sutures
anterior myodome
antorbital fenestra
antorbital notch
articular fossa of opercle
asterion of skull
bregma
brevis fossa
cranial cavity
cranial fossa +
cranial synchondrosis +
cranium +
crotaphion
dilatator fossa
distal groove of humerus
ectepicondylar depression
entepicondyle fossa
foramen of skull +
fossa cubitalis ventralis
fossa maxillaris
foveal depression
glenoid fossa
incisura fossa
infraorbital bridge
infratemporal fossa
The infratemporal fossa is an irregularly shaped cavity, situated below and medial to the zygomatic arch. Boundaries defined by: anteriorly, by the infratemporal surface of the maxilla and the ridge which descends from its zygomatic process posteriorly, by the articular tubercle of the temporal and the spinal angularis of the sphenoid superiorly, by the greater wing of the sphenoid below the infratemporal crest, and by the under surface of the temporal squama, containing the foramen ovale, which transmits the mandibular branch of the trigeminal nerve, and the foramen spinosum, which transmits the middle meningeal artery inferiorly, by the medial pterygoid muscle attaching to the mandible medially, by the lateral pterygoid plate laterally, by the ramus of mandible, which contains the mandibular foramen, leading to the mandibular canal through which the inferior alveolar nerve passes. This also contains the lingula, a triangular piece of bone that overlies the mandibular foramen antero-medially. Finally, the mylohyoid groove descends obliquely transmitting the mylohyoid nerve the only motor branch of the anterior division of the trigeminal nerve.