quadrate bone

English

In this diagram of an anaspid skull, the quadrate bone is labelled "q"

Noun

quadrate bone (plural quadrate bones)

1. (anatomy) A bone between the base of the lower jaw and the skull in most vertebrates other than mammals. In reptiles and birds it articulates the lower jaw with the skull; in mammals it is represented by the incus.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “quadrate bone”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)