Trying to remember the sutures of the skull? Here are 3 top tips to help them stick in your head.
The sutures are a type of fibrous joint, found in between many of the bones that make up the skull. Today we’re going to take a look at three sutures; the coronal suture, the sagittal suture and the lambdoid suture.
The first suture we’re going to take a look at is the coronal suture, and this is located at the front of the skull. This suture separates the frontal bone from both the left and right parietal bones. One of the tricky parts students have with this suture is remembering the link between its name and where its located. However, knowing the history of the name of this suture can really help you remember it; corona is a latin word, meaning “crown”. Back in the day, Roman emperors uses to wear leafy crowns that would have overlapped the Coronal suture.
The second suture we’re going to look at is the Lambdoid suture, located at the back of the skull. It separates the occipital bone from the both the right and left parietal bones. Once again, gaining an understanding of the origin of the name will help you to identify it much quicker. The word lambdoid is Greek in origin, it means “similar to lambda” – lambda is a greek letter, and it pretty much looks like an upside down V. Take a look at the suture and you can see that upside-down V-like appearance.
The third and final suture we are going to take a look at is the sagittal suture. This suture is located at the top of the skull, and it separates the right and left parietal bones. Just like the other two sutures, understanding the origin of its name can really help you identify it. The word sagittal is latin in origin, and it means “arrow”, just like sagittarius means “archer”. If you draw that arrow along the sagittal suture, you will see that it combines with the lambdoid suture to form a bow and arrow.
So there you go guys, that’s the three main sutures of the skull covered!
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