• 16 parts
  • Checked September 2026

Sphenoid Bone Unlabeled, From Above and Behind

Two blank views of the butterfly-shaped bone: find each part, or print the sheet.

Sphenoid Bone Unlabeled, From Above and Behind

Name Date

Tap the foramen rotundum

1 of 9

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
More options

Write the name of each numbered part.Answer key

  1. Lesser wing
  2. Greater wing
  3. Sella turcica
  4. Anterior clinoid process
  5. Optic canal
  6. Superior orbital fissure
  7. Foramen rotundum
  8. Foramen ovale
  9. Foramen spinosum
  10. Dorsum sellae
  11. Body of the sphenoid
  12. Lateral pterygoid plate
  13. Medial pterygoid plate
  14. Pterygoid fossa
  15. Pterygoid hamulus
  16. Pterygoid canal

Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 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: where it sits, the whole skull

All 16 parts on the diagram

Show the list

From above 9

  1. Lesser wing The smaller pair of wings. Inside the skull they form the ridge between the front and middle hollows of its floor.
  2. Greater wing The larger pair of wings. Each spreads out from the body to form part of the floor of the middle cranial fossa, the side of the skull and the back of the orbit.
  3. Sella turcica The name means Turkish saddle. The hollow in its floor, the hypophyseal fossa, holds the pituitary gland.
  4. Anterior clinoid process The inner, back tip of the lesser wing. It points back beside the sella turcica.
  5. Optic canal An opening between the lesser wing and the body. It sits at the front corner of the sella turcica. The optic nerve passes through it into the orbit.
  6. Superior orbital fissure A slit between the lesser wing and the greater wing. Nerves for the eyeball and its muscles pass through it into the orbit.
  7. Foramen rotundum A round opening in the greater wing. It is just below the superior orbital fissure. A sensory nerve for the cheek, nose and upper teeth leaves the skull here.
  8. Foramen ovale A large, oval opening in the greater wing, behind the foramen rotundum. A sensory nerve for the side of the head, the cheek, chin and lower teeth passes through.
  9. Foramen spinosum A small opening in the greater wing. It is just behind and to the side of the foramen ovale. The middle meningeal artery enters the skull through it.

From behind 7

  1. Dorsum sellae A square plate of bone, the back wall of the sella turcica. Its two upper corners are the posterior clinoid processes.
  2. Body of the sphenoid The center of the bone, shaped almost like a cube. It is hollow: the two sphenoidal sinuses are inside it.
  3. Lateral pterygoid plate The broader, outer plate of the pterygoid process. Chewing muscles that move the mandible attach to it.
  4. Medial pterygoid plate The narrower, longer, inner plate of the pterygoid process. The two medial plates form the side walls of the back of the nasal cavity.
  5. Pterygoid fossa The V-shaped hollow between the two plates. They spread apart toward the back.
  6. Pterygoid hamulus A small hook at the lower end of the medial pterygoid plate. The tendon of a muscle of the soft palate bends around it.
  7. Pterygoid canal A narrow canal that runs through the root of the pterygoid process. A nerve and an artery of the same name pass through it.

How this list was compiled: Every name and detail line was checked on 2026-09-30 against OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology 2e, section 7.2 The Skull, https://openstax.org/books/anatomy-and-physiology-2e/pages/7-2-the-skull; TeachMeAnatomy, The Sphenoid Bone, https://teachmeanatomy.info/head/osteology/sphenoid-bone/; Gray, Anatomy of the Human Body, 1918, https://archive.org/details/anatomyofhumanbo00grayrich (the sphenoid bone); and Wikipedia, Sphenoid bone. The wording is in our own words. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

The sphenoid bone unlabeled, from above and from behind, as textbooks show it. Find each part on the drawing; every answer stays written in, so a finished round leaves the sphenoid labeled.

Read the full guide

From above

The front of the skull is at the top. The thin lesser wings cross the front and the large greater wings spread out at the sides, with the sella turcica in the middle. The openings run from front to back: optic canal, superior orbital fissure, foramen rotundum, foramen ovale, foramen spinosum.

From behind

The body is the block in the middle, with the dorsum sellae standing on it. On each side two plates hang down: the broad lateral pterygoid plate and the narrow medial one, which ends in a hook.

  • Rotundum is round, ovale is oval, and spinosum is the small one behind it.
  • The lesser wings are in front of and above the greater wings, with the long slit between them.
  • The medial pterygoid plate is the one with the hook, the hamulus.

Questions and answers

What is on the unlabeled sphenoid bone sheet?

Both drawings with numbered rings and a line for each name: 1 to 9 on the view from above and 10 to 16 on the view from behind.

Is this a sphenoid bone quiz?

Yes. It names a part and you tap it on the blank drawing, with two tries each. The view from above comes first, then the view from behind.

What sits in the sella turcica?

The pituitary gland. It rests in the hypophyseal fossa, the rounded hollow in the floor of the sella turcica, on top of the body of the sphenoid.

Why is the sphenoid called the keystone of the skull?

Because it joins with almost every other bone of the skull. It forms much of the base of the central skull and reaches out to the sides as well.

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