temporal fossa
{{Short description|Shallow depression on the side of the human skull}}
{{Infobox anatomy
| Name = Temporal fossa
| Latin = fossa temporalis
| Image = Fossatemporalis.PNG
| Caption = The temporal fossa is clearly visible in this picture
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The temporal fossa is a fossa (shallow depression) on the side of the skull bounded by the temporal lines above, and the zygomatic arch below. Its floor is formed by the outer surfaces of four bones of the skull. The fossa is filled by the temporalis muscle.
Anatomy
= Boundaries =
- Medial/floor: frontal bone, parietal bone, (squamous part of) temporal bone, and sphenoid bone. The floor of the fossa features the pterion (the junction of these four bones).{{Cite book |last=Sinnatamby |first=Chummy S. |title=Last's Anatomy |vauthors= |publisher= |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-7295-3752-0 |edition=12th |pages=}}{{Rp|page=357}}
- Lateral/roof: temporal fascia.{{Rp|page=357}}
- Anterior: (posterior surface of) the frontal process of zygomatic bone,{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}} (the posterior surface of{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}) the zygomatic process of frontal bone, and the maxilla.{{Rp|page=357}}
- Superior: Pair of temporal lines (superior and inferior temporal lines) that arch across the skull from the zygomatic process of the frontal bone to the supramastoid crest of the temporal bone{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}
- Inferior: zygomatic arch laterally and by the infratemporal crest of the greater wing of the sphenoid medially.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}
= Contents =
- Temporalis muscle{{Rp|page=357}}
- Deep temporal arteries{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}
- Deep temporal nerves{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}
- Zygomaticotemporal nerve{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}
= Relations =
Deep to the zygomatic arch, the temporal fossa is inferiorly continuous with the (lateral part of) the infratemporal fossa.{{Rp|page=357}}
Additional images
File:Temporal fossa.jpg|Temporal fossa