Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy - Lecture Notes 3

7/2/16 6:43 PM

BIO 342
Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy
Lecture Notes - Skeletal System II (Skull)
The Vertebrate Skull consists of:
1 - neurocranium (also called endocranium or primary braincase)
2 - dermatocranium (membrane bones)
3 - splanchnocranium (or visceral skeleton)
Neurocranium:
1 - protects the brain
2 - begins as cartilage that is partly or entirely replaced by bone (except in cartilaginous fishes)
Cartilaginous stage:
neurocranium begins as pair of parachordal & prechordal cartilages below the brain
parachordal cartilages expand & join; along with the notochord from the basal plate
prechordal cartilages expand & join to form an ethmoid plate
Cartilage also appears in the
olfactory capsule (partially surrounding the olfactory epithelium)
otic capsule (surrounds inner ear & also develops into sclera of the eyeball)

Completion of floor, walls, & roof:

Ethmoid plate - fuses with olfactory capsules
Basal plate - fuses with otic capsules
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Further development of cartilaginous neurocranium = development of cartilaginous walls

(sides of braincase) &, in cartilaginous fishes, a cartilaginous roof over the brain
Cartilaginous fishes - retain a cartilaginous neurocranium (or chondrocranium) throughout life

Bony fishes, lungfishes, & most ganoids - retain highly cartilaginous neurocranium that is covered by
membrane bone
Cyclostomes - the several cartilaginous components of the embryonic neurocranium remain in adults as more
or less independent cartilages

Source: http://gwis2.circ.gwu.edu/~atkins/newwebpages/Skeletal/Skeletable.html

Other bony vertebrates - embryonic cartilaginous neurocranium is largely replaced by replacement bone (the
process of endochondral ossification occurs almost simultaneously at several ossification centers)
Neurocranial ossification centers:
1 - occipital centers
cartilage surrounding the foramen magnum may be
replaced by as many as four bones:
basioccipital
exoccipital (2)
supraoccipital
Mammals - all 4 occipital elements typically fuse to form a
single occipital bone (pictured below)
Tetrapods - neurocranium articulates with the 1st vertebra
via 1 (reptiles and birds) or 2 (amphibians and mammals)
occipital condyles (see human skull below)

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2 - Sphenoid centers form:

basisphenoid bone (anterior to basioccipital)
presphenoid bone
side walls above basisphenoid & presphenoid form:
orbitosphenoid
pleurosphenoid
alisphenoid

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3 - Ethmoid centers tend to remain cartilaginous & form

anterior to sphenoid
cribiform plate of ethmoid & several conchae (or ethmoturbinal bones)

The ethmoid region is clearly visible within the bisected skull above. In most mammals, the nasal chamber
is large & filled with ridges from the ethmoid bones called the turbinals or ethmoturbinals. These bones are covered with
olfactory epithelium in life and serve to increase the surface area for olfaction (i.e., a more acute sense of smell).
Another ethmoid bone, the cribiform plate, separates the nasal chamber from the brain cavity within the skull.

4 - Otic centers - the cartilaginous otic capsule is replaced in lower vertebrates by several bones:
prootic
opisthotic
epiotic
One or more of these may unite with adjacent replacement or membrane bones:
Frogs & most reptiles - opisthotics fuse with exoccipitals
Birds & mammals - prootic, opisthotic, & epiotic unite to form a single petrosal bone; the
petrosal, in turn, sometimes fuses with the squamosal to form the temporal bone

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DERMATOCRANIUM - lies superficial to neurocranium & forms:

1 - bones that form the roof of the brain & contribute to the lateral walls of the skull
2 - bones of the upper jaw
3 - bones of the palate(s)
4 - opercular bones
Basic pattern of "roofing bones":
crossopterygians - a series of paired & unpaired bones along mid-dorsal line of skull (below left)
labyrinthodonts - unpaired bones lost & a series of paired bones resulted (nasals, frontals, parietals, &
dermoccipitals) (below right)
Fontanels = 'soft spots'
occur when neurocranium is incomplete dorsally (e.g., teleosts & tetrapods)
can be felt in head until the membranes under the skin have ossified

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Bones of the upper jaw

Pterygoquadrate (palatoquadrate) cartilage - 1st upper jaw that vertebrate embryos develop
Cartilaginous fishes - palatoquadrate is the only upper jaw that develops
Bony vertebrates - the palatoquadrate becomes covered with dermal bones (premaxillae &
maxillae) that make up the adult upper jaw

Palatal bones - the floor on which the brain rests is at the same time the roof of the oral cavity in fishes &
amphibians (primary palate)
Sharks - cartilaginous
bony vertebrates - membrane bones form
Birds, mammals, & some reptiles - a secondary ('false') palate develops creating a horizontal partition
that separates the oral cavity into nasal & oral passages. The secondary palate is formed from processes
of the premaxillae, maxillae, and palatines.

Opercular bones
Operculum = fold of the hyoid arch that extends back over the gill slits in holocephalans & bony fishes
Tetrapods - no vestiges of opercular bones remain
Back to Skeletal System I
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To Skeletal System III

Related links:
Skulls and jaws
Back to BIO 342 Syllabus

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