| Vomer | |
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| Vomer labeled at left. | |
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| Bones and cartilages of septum of nose. Right side. (Vomer visible at bottom left.) | |
| Gray's | subject #43 170 |
| MeSH | Vomer |
The vomer is one of the unpaired facial bones of the skull. It is located in the midsagittal line, and articulates with the sphenoid, the ethmoid, the left and right palatine bones, and the left and right maxillary bones.
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Biology
The vomeronasal organ, also called Jacobson's organ, is a chemoreceptor organ named for its closeness to the vomer and nasal bones, and is particularly developed in animals such as cats (who adopt a characteristic pose called the Flehmen reaction or flehming when making use of it), and is thought to have to do with the perception of certain pheromones.
It has been suggested that by alternately thrusting with the tongue against the roof of the mouth while pressing with the fingers between the eyebrows, one can move the vomer, and if repeated for about 20 seconds, the sinuses will discharge, thus rapidly clearing a stuffy head without the use of drugs.[1]. There is no scientific evidence that this procedure actually works.
Anatomical details
The vomer is situated in the median plane, but its anterior portion is frequently bent to one or other side.
It is thin, somewhat quadrilateral in shape, and forms the hinder and lower part of the nasal septum; it has two surfaces and four borders.
The surfaces are marked by small furrows for blood vessels, and on each is the nasopalatine groove, which runs obliquely downward and forward, and lodges the nasopalatine nerve and vessels.
Borders
The superior border, the thickest, presents a deep furrow, bounded on either side by a horizontal projecting ala of bone; the furrow receives the rostrum of the sphenoid, while the margins of the alæ articulate with the vaginal processes of the medial pterygoid plates of the sphenoid behind, and with the sphenoidal processes of the palatine bones in front.
The inferior border articulates with the crest formed by the maxillæ and palatine bones.
The anterior border is the longest and slopes downward and forward. Its upper half is fused with the perpendicular plate of the ethmoid; its lower half is grooved for the inferior margin of the septal cartilage of the nose.
The posterior border is free, concave, and separates the choanae. It is thick and bifid above, thin below.
Articulations
The vomer articulates with six bones:
- two of the cranium, the sphenoid and ethmoid.
- four of the face, the two maxillae; and the two palatine bones.
It also articulates with the septal cartilage of the nose.
In other animals
In bony fish, the vomers are flattened, paired, bones forming the anterior part of the roof of the mouth, just behind the premaxillary bones. In many species, they have teeth, supplementing those in the jaw proper; in some extinct species the teeth on the vomers were actually larger than the primary set. In amphibians and reptiles, the vomers become narrower, due to the presence of the enlarged choanae (the inner part of the nostrils) on either side, and they may extend further back in the jaw. They are typically small in birds, where they form the upper hind part of the beak, again being located between the choanae.[2]
In mammals, the vomers have become narrower still, and are fused into a single, vertically oriented bone. The development of the hard palate beneath the vomer means that the bone is now located in a nasal chamber, separate from the mouth.[2]
Additional images
 Median wall of left nasal cavity showing vomer in situ. |
 The vomer. |
 Base of skull. Inferior surface. |
 Sagittal section of skull. |
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See also
External links
- SUNY Labs 33:st-0232 - "Nasal Cavity: Bones"
- SUNY Figs 33:02-03 - "Diagram of skeleton of medial (septal) nasal wall."
- lesson9 at The Anatomy Lesson by Wesley Norman (Georgetown University) (nasalseptumbonescarti)
- Atlas of anatomy at UMich rsa1p7 - "Nasal septum, lateral view"
- Roche Lexicon - illustrated navigator, at Elsevier 34256.000-1
- Roche Lexicon - illustrated navigator, at Elsevier 34257.000-1
References
- ^ Health Remedies - Men's Health
- ^ a b Romer, Alfred Sherwood; Parsons, Thomas S. (1977). The Vertebrate Body. Philadelphia, PA: Holt-Saunders International. pp. 220-243. ISBN 0-03-910284-X.
This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained within it may be outdated.
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