Skull facts for kids
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A skull, or cranium, is a set of bones that make up the head of a vertebrate and keep in place all body parts in the head. It supports the structures of the face and forms a protective cavity for the brain.
As well as protecting the brain, the skull fixes the distance between the eyes and between the ears. This allows stereoscopic vision, and helps help the brain judge direction and distance of sounds. In some animals, the skull also has a defensive function (e.g. horned ungulates). The frontal bone is where horns are mounted.
The skull is made of a number of joined (fused) flat bones. In humans, the adult skull is normally made up of 28 bones.
Structure
Skulls can be classified based on fenestras which are window or opening in a skull. There are 5 types of fenestras which are:
- Antorbital fenestra
- Mandibular fenestra
- Quadratojugal fenestra
- Subsquamosal fenestra
- Temporal fenestra
Images for kids
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Skull in situ
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Anatomy of a flat bone – the periosteum of the neurocranium is known as the pericranium
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Human skull from the front
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CT scan of a human skull in 3D
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A Centrosaurus skull
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The fenestrae in the skull of the dinosaur Massospondylus
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Chimpanzee skull
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Goat skull.
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Fish head parts, 1889, Fauna of British India, Sir Francis Day
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Skull of a swordfish
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Skull of Tiktaalik, an extinct genus transitional between lobe-finned fish and early tetrapods
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Cuckoo skull
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Amphibians' skulls, Hans Gadow, 1909 Amphibia and Reptiles
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Skull of a new-born child from the side
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Adam was believed to have been buried on Mount Calvary. Silk embroidery (17th century)
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An African elephant skull in Serengeti National Park
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A vulture skull
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King cobra skull
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See also
In Spanish: Cráneo para niños
