Pterygoid fossa
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Bone: Pterygoid fossa
Sphenoid bone. Upper and posterior surfaces. (Pterygoid fossa labeled at left.)
Latin	f. pterygoidea ossis sphenoidalis
Gray's	subject #35 151

The pterygoid fossa is an anatomical term for the fossa formed by the divergence of the lateral pterygoid plate and the medial pterygoid plate of the sphenoid bone.

Structure

The lateral and medial pteryoid plates (of the pterygoid process of the sphenoid bone) diverge behind and enclose between them a V-shaped fossa, the pterygoid fossa. This fossa faces posteriorly, and contains the medial pterygoid muscle and the tensor veli palatini muscle.

See also

• Pterygoid fovea
• Scaphoid fossa
• Pterygoid process

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