The Probert Encyclopaedia of Medicine

TEMPORAL BONES

The two temporal bones form the lower sides of the skull and part of the cranial floor. They also protect the organs responsible for hearing and equilibrium. A canal (called the external auditory meatus) passes through the lower part of the temporal bone and admits the ear canal. The temporal bone features the zygomatic process, which is a protrusion from the back part of the temporal bone which loops forward to meet the zygomatic bone to form the zygomatic arch. At the middle of this zygomatic arch is a small protrusion downward, called the articular tubercle. The front part of the temporal bone, forming the side of the skull slightly above and to the front of the ear, joins the greater wing of the sphenoid bone to compose the temple region of the skull. This frontal section of the temporal bone is called the squamous part, as it is also joined to the parietal bone at the squamous suture. The rearmost part of the temporal bone is referred to as the mastoid process.
Research Temporal Bones