• 27 parts
  • Checked October 2026

Animal Skull Anatomy Quiz

Name the parts of a dog skull, then a horse skull.

Animal Skull Anatomy Quiz

Name Date

Which part of the skull is this?

1 of 7

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Write the name of each numbered part.Answer key

  1. Premaxilla (incisive bone)
  2. Nasal bone
  3. Maxilla
  4. Orbit
  5. Frontal bone
  6. Sagittal crest
  7. Parietal bone
  8. Occipital condyle
  9. Zygomatic arch
  10. Coronoid process
  11. Mandible
  12. Canine tooth
  13. Carnassial tooth
  14. Premaxilla (incisive bone)
  15. Nasal bone
  16. Maxilla
  17. Frontal bone
  18. Orbit
  19. Zygomatic arch
  20. Occipital condyle
  21. Angle of the mandible
  22. Facial crest
  23. Molars
  24. Mandible
  25. Premolars
  26. Bars (interdental space)
  27. Incisors

Drawn for this site on 2026-10-01 from plain geometry. Licence: own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a part is answered.

Next step Next: the bones of the human skull

All 27 parts on the diagram

Show the list

Dog skull 13

  1. Premaxilla (incisive bone) The bone at the tip of the upper jaw. It holds the upper incisors.
  2. Nasal bone The roof of the nose. Short in a dog, as the whole face is.
  3. Maxilla The main bone of the upper jaw. It holds the canine and the cheek teeth.
  4. Orbit The eye socket. A dog's is open behind, with no bar of bone to close the ring.
  5. Frontal bone The bone of the forehead, above and between the eye sockets.
  6. Sagittal crest A bony ridge on top of the braincase. Strong jaw muscles attach to it.
  7. Parietal bone The bone that forms the side and roof of the braincase.
  8. Occipital condyle A smooth knob at the back of the skull. It rests on the first neck vertebra.
  9. Zygomatic arch The cheek bone, a bar that bows out under the eye. Jaw muscles pass inside it.
  10. Coronoid process The tall blade at the back of the lower jaw. A big jaw-closing muscle pulls on it.
  11. Mandible The lower jaw. It holds the lower teeth and hinges on the skull.
  12. Canine tooth A long, pointed tooth behind the incisors, for gripping.
  13. Carnassial tooth The largest cheek tooth of each jaw. The upper and lower ones slide past each other like scissors.

Horse skull 14

  1. Premaxilla (incisive bone) The bone at the tip of the upper jaw. It holds the upper incisors.
  2. Nasal bone The long roof of the nose. Its tip ends in a free point.
  3. Maxilla The big bone of the upper jaw. It holds all six upper cheek teeth.
  4. Frontal bone The bone of the forehead. A process from it arches down to close the eye socket.
  5. Orbit The eye socket. A horse's is a full ring of bone, set far back on the long face.
  6. Zygomatic arch The bar of bone that runs back from under the eye to the jaw joint.
  7. Occipital condyle A smooth knob at the back of the skull. It rests on the first neck vertebra.
  8. Angle of the mandible The rounded lower back corner of the jaw. It is very deep in a horse.
  9. Facial crest A ridge along the cheek, running forward from under the eye.
  10. Molars The three back grinding teeth of each row. They chew what the incisors bite off.
  11. Mandible The lower jaw: a long body for the teeth and a tall branch up to the joint.
  12. Premolars The three front grinding teeth of each row, tall and flat-topped.
  13. Bars (interdental space) The toothless gap between the incisors and the cheek teeth.
  14. Incisors The front teeth. They nip off grass, which the cheek teeth then grind.

How this list was compiled: Every name was checked on 2026-10-01 in two sources, for facts only and with nothing copied: (1) S. Sisson, The Anatomy of the Domestic Animals, second edition, 1914 (public domain), the skull and the teeth of the horse and of the dog, https://archive.org/details/anatomyofdomesti00siss; (2) A. Chauveau, The Comparative Anatomy of the Domesticated Animals, English edition, 1873 (public domain), the bones of the head and the teeth, https://archive.org/details/comparativeanato00chaurich; (3) Wikipedia, Carnassial; (4) Wikipedia, Sagittal crest; (5) Wikipedia, Horse teeth. A name only one of them gives is not a part of this page. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-01 from plain geometry; nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

This animal skull anatomy quiz shows two skulls from the left side, a dog's and then a horse's. A ring marks one part at a time; pick its name from four.

Read the full guide

A meat-eater's skull

The dog's face is short. A crest runs along the top of the braincase for the jaw muscles, the canine tooth is long and pointed, and one large cheek tooth in each jaw, the carnassial, cuts against its partner. The eye socket is open behind.

A grazer's skull

The horse's face is very long. Incisors at the front nip grass; behind them comes a toothless gap, the bars, then tall premolars and molars that grind. The eye socket is a full ring of bone, and the lower jaw is deep at its angle.

  • Eight names come up on both skulls. Find each bone on the dog first, then see how the horse stretches it.
  • Count back from the gap on the horse: three premolars, then three molars.

Questions and answers

How can you tell a carnivore skull from a herbivore skull?

Look at the teeth and the face. A dog has long canines and a cutting carnassial tooth in each jaw. A horse has nipping incisors, a toothless gap and flat-topped grinding teeth, on a much longer face.

What is the ridge on top of a dog's skull?

The sagittal crest, a ridge of bone along the midline of the braincase. A main chewing muscle attaches to it, so a strong crest goes with strong jaws.

What are carnassial teeth?

A pair of cheek teeth, one upper and one lower on each side, whose edges slide past each other like scissors. In a dog they are the fourth upper premolar and the first lower molar.

What are the bars of a horse's mouth?

The stretch of each jaw between the incisors and the cheek teeth where no teeth grow. Anatomy books call it the interdental space.

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