Antorbital fenestra
An antorbital fenestra (plural: fenestrae) is an opening in the
crocodylians have lost them. The loss in crocodylians is believed to be related to the structural needs of their skulls for the bite force and feeding behaviours that they employ.[1][2] In some archosaur species, the opening has closed but its location is still marked by a depression, or fossa
, on the surface of the skull called the antorbital fossa.
The antorbital fenestra houses a paranasal sinus that is confluent with the adjacent nasal capsule.[3] Although crocodylians walled over their antorbital fenestra, they still retain an antorbital sinus.[3]
In
ceratopsian dinosaurs.[4]
See also
- Fenestra (anatomy)
References
- ^ Preushscoft, H., Witzel, U. 2002. Biomechanical Investigations on the Skulls of Reptiles and Mammals. Senckenbergiana Lethaea 82:207–222.
- ^ Rayfield, E.J., Milner, A.C., Xuan, V.B., Young, P.G. 2007. Functional Morphology of Spinosaur "Crocodile Mimic" Dinosaurs. JVP. 27(4):892–901.
- ^ a b c Witmer, L.M. 1997. The Evolution of the Antorbital Cavity of Archosaurs: A Study in Soft-Tissue Reconstruction in the Fossil Record with an Analysis of the Function of Pneumaticity. JVP 17(1 supp):1–76.
- ISBN 1-4051-3413-5.