I have a video that takes you #3 The Sphenoid bone through this! E CLICK HERE This is one of the hardest cranial bones. It is a single bone that makes up the Read If you are having a Me majority of the base of the skull, just anterior to the occipital. hard time seeing There are outside features, which can be seen on the base, and inside features, the sphenoid as a which can be seen on the floor. The floor features are associated with the single bone, see brain. The base features are mostly large muscle attachments that let you the next page move your skull and jaw. Inferior view: Pterygoid processes or plates Muscle attachments. “Ptery” means winged, like “pterodactyl”. Superior view: Greater Wing of the Sphenoid The large fossa Lesser Wing of the Sphenoid Sella The smaller upper “ridge” turcica = If you are having a Turkish hard time seeing Sella Turcica, with it’s parts: saddle the sella turcica Means “Turkish saddle” in Latin. See and its parts, I image. have a “trick” on the next page! Hypophyseal Fossa “Seat” of the saddle. The pituitary gland sits here. Anterior Clinoid Process Muscle attachments. Look like the “front handles” on the saddle’ Optic Foramina (runs right next to anterior clinoid processes) Not shown in image. Run forward, to the eyes, just next to the anterior clinoid processes. more There are also a lot of foramen, but we’ll deal with those in their own module later! This page contains some help with 2 difficult concepts. You can skip it if you do not need it Having a hard time seeing the sphenoid as a single bone? After all, it looks like it is paired, forming part of the eye orbit: But this is reality: its wings wraps around up into the orbits. Paired? No, it is not! ? Note: I can do this with my demo skull. Call me over if you need it! Having a hard time conceptualizing the Sella turcica? Look at the area from a superior view, while someone in your group reads this out loud: The sphenoid looks like a butterfly. Read On the back of the butterfly there is a saddle. A cowboy could sit in the saddle. Me Out Loud! The seat of the saddle, where the cowboy is sitting is called the hypophyseal fossa. In life, the pituitary gland, or hypophysis, would sit there. Look at the image below. The cowboy could lean back in his saddle and rest against what looks like a back rest. He could then lean forward and grab onto the anterior clinoid processes. Right at the base of these processes are two holes where the nerves go to the eye sockets…these are the optic foramen or canals. Be careful, there are other foramen … these are right at the base, going forward. Pituitary Sagittal section: .