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Name:___________________________
Date:____________________________
Axial Skeleton Lab Part A: The Skull
Prelab: A human skull consists of 22 bones that (except for the lower jaw) are firmly
interlocked alone sutures. Eight of these immovable bones make up the braincase,
or cranium and thirteen more immovable bones and the mandible form the facial
skeleton.
Purpose: To examine the structure of the human skull and to identify the bones and
major features of the skull.
Materials: textbook, human skull (articulated), human skull (exploded), colored
pencils
Procedure:
1. Review the section entitled “Skull” in chapter 7 of “Hole’s” or “skull” in chapter 5
of Marieb.
2. As a review activity, label figures 1-4.
Figure 1
a._________________________
b._________________________
c._________________________
d._________________________
e._________________________
f._________________________
g._________________________
h._________________________
i._________________________
j._________________________
k._________________________
l._________________________
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Figure 2
If the letter is not labeled as bone, label the particular feature of that bone.
A. _____________________________________
I. _____________________________________
B. _____________________________________
J. _____________________________________
C. _____________________________________
K _____________________________________
D. _____________________________________
L. _____________________________________
E. _____________________________________
M. _____________________________________
F. _____________________________________
N. _____________________________________
G. _____________________________________
O. _____________________________________
H. _____________________________________
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Figure 3
If the letter is not labeled as bone, label the particular feature of that bone.
A. _____________________________________
G. _____________________________________
B. _____________________________________
H. _____________________________________
C. _____________________________________
I _____________________________________
D. _____________________________________
J. _____________________________________
E. _____________________________________
K. _____________________________________
F. _____________________________________
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Figure 4
If the letter is not labeled as bone, label the particular feature of that bone.
A. _____________________________________
F. _____________________________________
B. _____________________________________
G. _____________________________________
C. _____________________________________
H. _____________________________________
D. _____________________________________
I _____________________________________
E. _____________________________________
J. _____________________________________
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3. Examine the cranial bones of the articulated human skull and the exploded
skull. Locate the following bones and features in the lab specimens and, at the
same time, palpate as many of these bones and features in your own skull as
possible.
Frontal Bone
Parietal Bone
Coronal Suture
Occipital bone
Lambdoidal suture
Foramen magnum
Sphenoid bone
Sella turcica
Maxilla bone
Palatine process
Nasal bone
Vomer bone
Temporal Bone
Squamosal suture
External auditory meatus
Mastoid process
Styloid process
Zygomatic process
Ethmoid bone
Cribriform plate
Crista galli
Zygomatic bone
Temporal process
Mandible
ramus
mandibular condyle
Mental foramen
4. Use colored pencils to differentiate the bones listed above in figures 1-4. Select
the same color to color the same bone in all figures. This should help you
locate various bones that are shown in different views. You can check your
work by referring to your text.
5. Complete the conclusion of this lab.
Conclusion:
Part A
Match the bones in column B with the features in column A. Place your letter in the
space provided.
Column A
_______1. Forms saggital, conronal,
squamosal and lambdoidal sutures
_______2. cribriform plate
_______3. Crista galli
_______4. External auditory meatus
_______5. Foramen magnum
_______6. Styloid process
_______7. Mastoid process
_______8. Occipital condyle
_______9. Sella turcica
_______10. zygomatic process
Column B
a. Ethmoid bone
b. Frontal bone
c. Occipital bone
d. Parietal bone
e. Sphenoid bone
f. Temporal bone
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Part B
Complete the following statements.
1. The _________________________________________ suture joins the frontal bone to
the parietal bones.
2. The ________________________________________ suture joins the parietal bones to
the occipital bone.
3. ________________________________________ is a facial bone that contains a sinus.
Part C
Match the bones in column B with the characteristics in column A. Place the letter of
your choice in the space provided.
Column A
_______1. Forms the bridge of the nose
_______2. Only moveable bone in facial
skeleton
_______3. contains the mental foramen
_______4. creates a prominence of cheek
inferior and lateral to the eye
_______5. contains sockets of upper teeth
_______6. forms anterior portion of
zygomatic arch
_______7. forms anterior roof of mouth
_______8. forms posterior roof of mouth
_______9. scalelike part in medial wall of
eyesocket
_______10. forms inferior portion of nasal
septum
Column B
a. Lacrimal bone
b. Mandible
c. Maxilla
d. Nasal bone
e. Vomer bone
f. Zygomatic bone
g. Palatine bone