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The greater wings of the sphenoid are two strong processes of bone, which arise from the sides of the body, and are curved upward, laterally, and backward; the posterior part of each projects as a triangular process that fits into the angle between the squamous and the petrous part of the temporal bone and presents at its apex a downward-directed process, the spine of sphenoid bone.
The sphenoid bone [note 1] 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 orbit. Its shape somewhat resembles that of a butterfly, bat or wasp with its wings extended.
The lateral pterygoid plate of the sphenoid (or lateral lamina of pterygoid process) is broad, thin, and everted and forms the lateral part of a horseshoe like process that extends from the inferior aspect of the sphenoid bone, and serves as the origin of the lateral pterygoid muscle, which functions in allowing the mandible to move in a lateral and medial direction, or from side-to-side.
The lateral surfaces of the body are united with the greater wings of the sphenoid and the medial pterygoid plates.. Above the attachment of each greater wing is a broad groove, curved something like the italic letter f; it lodges the internal carotid artery and the cavernous sinus, and is named the carotid sulcus.
The foramen ovale is an opening in the greater wing of the sphenoid bone. [1] The foramen ovale is one of two cranial foramina in the greater wing, the other being the foramen spinosum. [2]: 771 The foramen ovale is posterolateral to the foramen rotundum and anteromedial to the foramen spinosum.
It is the junction between four bones: the parietal bone. the squamous part of temporal bone. the greater wing of sphenoid bone. the frontal bone. These bones are typically joined by five cranial sutures: the sphenoparietal suture joins the sphenoid and parietal bones. the coronal suture joins the frontal bone to the sphenoid and parietal bones.
The superior orbital fissure is a foramen or cleft of the skull between the lesser and greater wings of the sphenoid bone. It gives passage to multiple structures, including the oculomotor nerve, trochlear nerve, ophthalmic nerve, abducens nerve, ophthalmic veins, and sympathetic fibres from the cavernous plexus.
It is so-named because of its relationship to the spinous process of the greater wing of the sphenoid bone. However, due to incorrectly declining the noun, the literal meaning is "hole full of thorns" (Latin: foramen spinosum). The correct, but unused name would, in fact, be foramen spinae. [4]