The pterygoid fossa is an anatomical term for the fossa formed by the divergence of the lateral pterygoid plate

Lateral pterygoid plate

The lateral pterygoid plate of the sphenoid is broad, thin, and everted; its lateral surface forms part of the medial wall of the infratemporal fossa, and gives attachment to the lateral pterygoid muscle; its medial surface forms part of the pterygoid fossa, and gives attachment to the medial...

 and the medial pterygoid plate

Medial pterygoid plate

The medial pterygoid plate of the sphenoid is narrower and longer than the lateral pterygoid plate; it curves lateralward at its lower extremity into a hook-like process, the pterygoid hamulus, around which the tendon of the Tensor veli palatini glides.The lateral surface of this plate forms part...

 of the sphenoid bone

Sphenoid bone

The sphenoid bone is an unpaired bone situated at the base of the skull in front of the temporal bone and basilar part of the occipital bone.The sphenoid bone is one of the seven bones that articulate to form the orbit...

.

Structure

The lateral and medial pteryoid plates (of the pterygoid process of the sphenoid bone

Sphenoid bone

The sphenoid bone is an unpaired bone situated at the base of the skull in front of the temporal bone and basilar part of the occipital bone.The sphenoid bone is one of the seven bones that articulate to form the orbit...

) diverge behind and enclose between them a V-shaped fossa, the pterygoid fossa. This fossa faces posteriorly, and contains the medial pterygoid muscle

Medial pterygoid muscle

The medial pterygoid , is a thick, quadrilateral muscle of mastication.The mandibular branch of the fifth cranial nerve, the trigeminal nerve, innervates the medial pterygoid muscle.-Origin and insertion:...

 and the tensor veli palatini muscle.

See also

• Pterygoid fovea
• Scaphoid fossa
  Scaphoid fossa
  In the pterygoid processes of the sphenoid, above the pterygoid fossa is a small, oval, shallow depression, the scaphoid fossa, which gives origin to the Tensor veli palatini.-External links:*...
  
  
• Pterygoid process