Dog · Bone · Head
Mandible
Mandibula
Body carrying the lower teeth, and a ramus with a coronoid process for the temporalis, a condylar process for the jaw joint, and an angular process for the pterygoid and masseter.
- System
- Bone
- Region
- Head
- Sides
- Single, on the midline
- Named parts
- 8
Where it runs from and to
A muscle is told apart from its neighbours by what it takes hold of at each end, which is also what decides what it does when it shortens.
- Action
- Body carrying the lower teeth, and a ramus with a coronoid process for the temporalis, a condylar process for the jaw joint, and an angular process for the pterygoid and masseter.
Written for Vetomica in its own words from the standard reference anatomy of the dog; the books it was checked against are listed below.
Named parts
What to look for on the bone, and what each part is called in the Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria.
- Body of the mandibleCorpus mandibulae
- The horizontal part that carries the lower teeth.Miller 2020, p. 240
- Ramus of the mandibleRamus mandibulae
- The upright part behind the tooth row.Miller 2020, p. 241
- Coronoid processProcessus coronoideus
- The tall blade at the top of the ramus that the temporalis pulls on.Miller 2020, p. 241
- Condylar processProcessus condylaris
- The cylinder behind it that forms the jaw joint with the temporal bone.Miller 2020, p. 241
- Angular processProcessus angularis
- The hook at the back lower corner, for the pterygoid and the masseter.Miller 2020, p. 241
- Mandibular notchIncisura mandibulae
- The gap between the coronoid and condylar processes.Miller 2020, p. 241
- Mental foramenForamen mentale
- The opening on the outside of the body where the mental nerve reaches the lip.Miller 2020, p. 240
- Mandibular foramenForamen mandibulae
- The opening on the inside of the ramus where the alveolar nerve and vessels enter the bone.Miller 2020, p. 242
What it meets
Lower jaw; carries the lower arcade; articulates with temporal bone.
Bones it articulates with
- Temporal bone
- Lower incisors
- Lower canine
- Lower premolars
- Lower molars
Joints it forms
- Temporomandibular joint
- Intermandibular joint
Muscles and ligaments that take hold of it
- Masseter
- Temporalis
- Digastricus
- Pterygoideus medialis
- Mylohyoideus
Measured on the specimen
What the mandible is in contact with in the model itself, with the share of the other structure’s surface it covers. A contact is not always a joint: bones that simply lie against one another are in this list too.
- Dens molaris I mandibularis27%
- Dens molaris I mandibularis26%
- Dens molaris II mandibularis47%
- Dens molaris II mandibularis47%
- Dens caninus mandibularis22%
- Dens caninus mandibularis22%
- Dens praemolaris III mandibularis32%
- Dens praemolaris III mandibularis32%
Measured on the left side.
Terminology
- English
- Mandible
- Latin (NAV)
- Mandibula
- Status
- A valid term in the Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria
References
Where to read this structure in full, and where the named parts above were read.
- Miller 2020Miller 2020, ch. 4 The Skeleton, Mandible, PDF p. 239
- König & Liebich 2020skull of carnivores, p. 95-99
- Dyce 2017ch. 11 Head and Ventral Neck of the Dog and Cat, p. 359; ch. 2 Locomotor Apparatus, p. 29
- NAV 2017Osteologia