Often compared to a bat or butterfly shape, the sphenoid bone is involved in the formation of the orbital and nasal cavities, the cranial vault and the base of the skull.
Definition: what is the sphenoid bone?
Often compared to a bat or butterfly shape, the sphenoid bone is involved in the formation of the orbital and nasal cavities, the cranial vault and the base of the skull. This odd bone has a median body where the following extensions are attached: the pterygoid process, the lesser wing and the greater wing. Thus, the median body of the sphenoid bone has six faces: the upper face, the lower face, the anterior face, the posterior face and the two lateral faces from which the small and large wings originate.