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The base of skull, also known as the cranial base or the cranial floor, is the most inferior area of the
skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, t ...
. It is composed of the endocranium and the lower parts of the calvaria.


Structure

Structures found at the base of the skull are for example:


Bones

There are five bones that make up the base of the skull: *
Ethmoid bone The ethmoid bone (; from grc, ἡθμός, hēthmós, sieve) is an unpaired bone in the skull that separates the nasal cavity from the brain. It is located at the roof of the nose, between the two orbits. The cubical bone is lightweight due t ...
*
Sphenoid bone The sphenoid bone is an unpaired bone of the neurocranium. It is situated in the middle of the skull towards the front, in front of the basilar part of the occipital bone. The sphenoid bone is one of the seven bones that articulate to form the o ...
*
Occipital bone The occipital bone () is a cranial dermal bone and the main bone of the occiput (back and lower part of the skull). It is trapezoidal in shape and curved on itself like a shallow dish. The occipital bone overlies the occipital lobes of the cer ...
*
Frontal bone The frontal bone is a bone in the human skull. The bone consists of two portions.''Gray's Anatomy'' (1918) These are the vertically oriented squamous part, and the horizontally oriented orbital part, making up the bony part of the forehead, part ...
*
Temporal bone The temporal bones are situated at the sides and base of the skull, and lateral to the temporal lobes of the cerebral cortex. The temporal bones are overlaid by the sides of the head known as the temples, and house the structures of the ears. T ...


Sinuses

*
Occipital sinus The occipital sinus is the smallest of the dural venous sinuses. It is usually unpaired, and is sometimes altogether absent. It is situated in the attached margin of the falx cerebelli. It commences near the foramen magnum, and ends by draining int ...
*
Superior sagittal sinus The superior sagittal sinus (also known as the superior longitudinal sinus), within the human head, is an unpaired area along the attached margin of the falx cerebri. It allows blood to drain from the lateral aspects of anterior cerebral hemisphe ...
* Superior petrosal sinus


Foramina of the skull This article lists foramina that occur in the human body. __TOC__ Skull The human skull has numerous openings (foramina), through which cranial nerves, arteries, veins, and other structures pass. These foramina vary in size and number, wi ...

* Foramen cecum *
Optic foramen The ''optic foramen'' is the opening to the optic canal. The canal is located in the sphenoid bone; it is bounded medially by the body of the sphenoid and laterally by the lesser wing of the sphenoid. The superior surface of the sphenoid bone is b ...
*
Foramen lacerum The foramen lacerum ( la, lacerated piercing) is a triangular hole in the base of skull. It is located between the sphenoid bone, the apex of the petrous part of the temporal bone, and the basilar part of the occipital bone. Structure The fora ...
* Foramen rotundum * Foramen magnum * Foramen ovale *
Jugular foramen A jugular foramen is one of the two (left and right) large foramina (openings) in the base of the skull, located behind the carotid canal. It is formed by the temporal bone and the occipital bone. It allows many structures to pass, including the ...
*
Internal auditory meatus The internal auditory meatus (also meatus acusticus internus, internal acoustic meatus, internal auditory canal, or internal acoustic canal) is a canal within the petrous part of the temporal bone of the skull between the posterior cranial foss ...
* Mastoid foramen * Sphenoidal emissary foramen * Foramen spinosum


Sutures

* Frontoethmoidal suture * Sphenofrontal suture * Sphenopetrosal suture * Sphenoethmoidal suture * Petrosquamous suture *
Sphenosquamosal suture The sphenosquamosal suture is a cranial suture between the sphenoid bone and the squama of the temporal bone The temporal bones are situated at the sides and base of the skull, and lateral to the temporal lobes of the cerebral cortex. The te ...


Other

* Sphenoidal lingula * Subarcuate fossa *
Dorsum sellae The dorsum sellae is part of the sphenoid bone in the skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts ar ...
* Jugular process * Petro-occipital fissure * Condylar canal * Jugular tubercle * Tuberculum sellae *
Carotid groove The carotid groove is an anatomical groove in the sphenoid bone located above the attachment of each great wing of the sphenoid bone. The groove is curved like the italic letter f, and lodges the internal carotid artery and the cavernous sinus Th ...
*
Fossa hypophyseos The sella turcica (Latin for 'Turkish saddle') is a saddle-shaped depression in the body of the sphenoid bone of the human skull and of the skulls of other hominids including chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans. It serves as a cephalometric la ...
*
Posterior clinoid processes In the sphenoid bone, the anterior boundary of the sella turcica is completed by two small eminences, one on either side, called the anterior clinoid processes, while the posterior boundary is formed by a square-shaped plate of bone, the dorsum s ...
*
Sigmoid sulcus Sigmoid means resembling the lower-case Greek letter sigma (uppercase Σ, lowercase σ, lowercase in word-final position ς) or the Latin letter S. Specific uses include: * Sigmoid function, a mathematical function * Sigmoid colon, part of the l ...
* Internal occipital protuberance * Internal occipital crest * Ethmoidal spine *
Vestibular aqueduct At the hinder part of the medial wall of the vestibule is the orifice of the vestibular aqueduct, which extends to the posterior surface of the petrous portion of the temporal bone. It transmits a small vein, and contains a tubular prolongation ...
*
Chiasmatic groove The superior surface of the body of the sphenoid bone is bounded behind by a ridge, which forms the anterior border of a narrow, transverse groove, the chiasmatic groove (optic groove, prechiasmatic sulcus), above and behind which lies the optic ...
*
Middle clinoid process The anterior boundary of the sella turcica is completed by two small eminences, one on either side, called the middle clinoid processes. It is found lateral to the sella turcica. Etymology Clinoid likely comes from the Greek root ''klinein'' ...
* Groove for sigmoid sinus *
Trigeminal ganglion A trigeminal ganglion (or Gasserian ganglion, or semilunar ganglion, or Gasser's ganglion) is the sensory ganglion at the base of each of the two trigeminal nerves (CN V), occupying a cavity ( Meckel's cave) in the dura mater, covering the trigem ...
* Middle cranial fossa * Anterior cranial fossa *
Middle meningeal artery The middle meningeal artery ('' la, arteria meningea media'') is typically the third branch of the first portion of the maxillary artery. After branching off the maxillary artery in the infratemporal fossa, it runs through the foramen spinosum ...
* Cribriform plate *
Posterior cranial fossa The posterior cranial fossa is part of the cranial cavity, located between the foramen magnum and tentorium cerebelli. It contains the brainstem and cerebellum. This is the most inferior of the fossae. It houses the cerebellum, medulla and pons. ...
* Nasociliary nerve *
Hypoglossal canal The hypoglossal canal is a foramen in the occipital bone of the skull. It is hidden medially and superiorly to each occipital condyle. It transmits the hypoglossal nerve. Structure The hypoglossal canal lies in the epiphyseal junction between ...


Additional images

File:Gray193.png , Base of the skull. Upper surface File:Schädelbasis1.jpg, Base of skull File:Base of skull 3.jpg, Base of skull - crista galli, cribriform plate and foramen cecum File:Base of skull 11.jpg, Base of skull - sella turcica File:Base of skull 24.jpg, The anterior, middle and posterior cranial fossa in different colors {{Authority control Skull