The bony arch in vertebrates that extends along the side or front of the skull beneath the eye socket and is formed by the temporal process of the zygomatic bone and the zygomatic process of the temporal bone. [ https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=bn%3A0-683-40008-8 MP:0004469 ]
Synonyms: zygoma
Term information
- UMLS:C0162485 (ncithesaurus:Zygomatic_Arch)
- MA:0002810
- EMAPA:36570
- MESH:D015050
- FMA:53120
- MFMO:0000108
- NCIT:C33897
- SCTID:272682006
- Wikipedia:Zygomatic_arch
- galen:Zygoma
uberon_slim, pheno_slim
The zygomatic process of the temporal arises by two roots: an anterior, directed inward in front of the mandibular fossa, where it expands to form the articular tubercle. a posterior, which runs backward above the external acoustic meatus and is continuous with the supramastoid crest. The upper border of the arch gives attachment to the temporal fascia; the lower border and medial surface give origin to the Masseter
The zygomatic arch is significant in evolutionary biology, as it is part of the structures derived from the ancestral single temporal fenestra of the synapsid ancestor of mammals.
The zygomatic arch is occasionally referred to as the zygoma, but this term usually refers to the zygomatic bone or occasionally the zygomatic process.