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Pterygoid fossa

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Pterygoid fossa
Sphenoid bone. Upper and posterior surfaces. (Pterygoid fossa labeled at left.)
Details
Identifiers
Latinfossa pterygoidea ossis sphenoidalis
TA98A02.1.05.046
TA2632
FMA84970
Anatomical terms of bone

The pterygoid fossa is an anatomical term for the fossa formed by the divergence of the lateral pterygoid plate and the medial pterygoid plate of the sphenoid bone.

Structure

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The lateral and medial pterygoid plates (of the pterygoid process of the sphenoid bone) diverge behind and enclose between them a V-shaped fossa, the pterygoid fossa. This fossa faces posteriorly, and contains the medial pterygoid muscle and the tensor veli palatini muscle.

Pterygoid fossa

See also

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References

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Public domain This article incorporates text in the public domain from page 151 of the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)