Jugular fossa

Jugular fossa
Base of the skull. Inferior surface. Jugular fossa labeled in purple near center.
View of the inner wall of the tympanum. (Jugular fossa visible at bottom.)
Details
Identifiers
Latin	fossa jugularis ossis temporalis
Dorlands /Elsevier	f_14/12376246
TA	A02.1.06.041
FMA	56429
Anatomical terms of bone []

The jugular fossa is a deep depression in the inferior part of the base of the skull. More specifically, it is located in the temporal bone, posterior to the carotid canal and the aquæductus cochleæ. It is of variable depth and size in different skulls; it lodges the bulb of the internal jugular vein.

In the bony ridge dividing the carotid canal from the jugular fossa is the small inferior tympanic canaliculus for the passage of the tympanic branch of the glossopharyngeal nerve.

In the lateral part of the jugular fossa is the mastoid canaliculus for the entrance of the auricular branch of the vagus nerve.

Behind the jugular fossa is a quadrilateral area, the jugular surface, covered with cartilage in the fresh state, and articulating with the jugular process of the occipital bone.

Left temporal bone. Inferior surface. (Label for jugular fossa at left, sixth from bottom.)

Temporal bone

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