temporal fossa n a broad fossa on the side of the skull of higher vertebrates behind the orbit that contains muscles for raising the lower jaw and that in humans is occupied by the temporalis muscle, is separated from the orbit by the zygomatic bone, is bounded laterally by the zygomatic arch, and lies above the infratemporal crest of the greater wing of the sphenoid bone
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fossa temporalis [TA] the area on the side of the cranium outlined posteriorly and superiorly by the temporal lines, anteriorly by the frontal and zygomatic bones, laterally by the zygomatic arch, and inferiorly by the infratemporal crest.Medical dictionary. 2011.