The condyloid process of her mandible was driven into the mandibular fossa and fractured her temporal bone, creating an opening from the auditory canal to the throat. This sort of injury often results from a hard blow to the mandible from below.
Some people have no frontal sinus; a persistent metopic suture in the frontal bone; variations in the number and locations of sutural bones in the skull; condylar canals in the occipital bone; four lumbar and six sacral vertebrae instead of five of each; a concave sternal angle; and a forked or perforated xiphoid process on the sternum.
T12 has a pair of costal facets on the body, whereas L1 has none. The superior articular facets of T12 face dorsally, while those of L1 face medially.
Complete closure of these fissures would disconnect certain cranial nerves from the muscles that control movements of the eye, and thus immobilize the eyes.
Parietal bone: the frontal, occipital, temporal, and sphenoid bones. Zygomatic bone: the frontal, temporal, and sphenoid bones and the maxilla. Temporal bone: the sphenoid, parietal, occipital, and zygomatic bones and the mandible. Ethmoid bone: the frontal, sphenoid, and nasal bones, vomer, and inferior concha.
