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In
anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...
and osteology, a foramen (;Entry "foramen"
in
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
'. plural foramina, or foramens ) is an open hole that is present in extant or extinct
amniote Amniotes are a clade of tetrapod vertebrates that comprises sauropsids (including all reptiles and birds, and extinct parareptiles and non-avian dinosaurs) and synapsids (including pelycosaurs and therapsids such as mammals). They are distin ...
s. Foramina inside the
body Body may refer to: In science * Physical body, an object in physics that represents a large amount, has mass or takes up space * Body (biology), the physical material of an organism * Body plan, the physical features shared by a group of animal ...
of
animals Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage in ...
typically allow
nerves A nerve is an enclosed, cable-like bundle of nerve fibers (called axons) in the peripheral nervous system. A nerve transmits electrical impulses. It is the basic unit of the peripheral nervous system. A nerve provides a common pathway for the ...
,
arteries An artery (plural arteries) () is a blood vessel in humans and most animals that takes blood away from the heart to one or more parts of the body (tissues, lungs, brain etc.). Most arteries carry oxygenated blood; the two exceptions are the p ...
,
veins Veins are blood vessels in humans and most other animals that carry blood towards the heart. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart; exceptions are the pulmonary and umbilical veins, both of which carry oxygenated ...
, or other structures to connect one part of the body with another.


Skull

The skulls of
vertebrates Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, ...
have foramina through which
nerves A nerve is an enclosed, cable-like bundle of nerve fibers (called axons) in the peripheral nervous system. A nerve transmits electrical impulses. It is the basic unit of the peripheral nervous system. A nerve provides a common pathway for the ...
,
arteries An artery (plural arteries) () is a blood vessel in humans and most animals that takes blood away from the heart to one or more parts of the body (tissues, lungs, brain etc.). Most arteries carry oxygenated blood; the two exceptions are the p ...
,
veins Veins are blood vessels in humans and most other animals that carry blood towards the heart. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart; exceptions are the pulmonary and umbilical veins, both of which carry oxygenated ...
, and other structures pass. For example, a human skull has parietal foramina.


Spine

Within the vertebral column (spine) of vertebrates, including the
human spine The vertebral column, also known as the backbone or spine, is part of the axial skeleton. The vertebral column is the defining characteristic of a vertebrate in which the notochord (a flexible rod of uniform composition) found in all chordates ...
, each bone has an opening at both its top and bottom to allow nerves, arteries, veins, etc. to pass through.


Other

*
Apical foramen In dental anatomy, the apical foramen, literally translated "small opening of the apex," is the tooth's natural opening, found at the root's very tip—that is, the root's apex—whereby an artery, vein, and nerve enter the tooth and commingle w ...
, the hole at the tip of the root of a tooth * Foramen ovale (heart), a hole between the venous and arterial sides of the fetal heart * Transverse foramen, one of a pair of openings in each cervical vertebra, in which the vertebral artery travels * Greater sciatic foramen, a major foramen of the pelvis * Interventricular foramina, channels connecting ventricles in the brain * Lesser sciatic foramen, an opening between the pelvis and the posterior thigh * Obturator foramen, the hole created by the ischium and pubis bones of the pelvis * Omental foramen, the connecting opening between the greater sac and the lesser sac in the
abdominal cavity The abdominal cavity is a large body cavity in humans and many other animals that contains many organs. It is a part of the abdominopelvic cavity. It is located below the thoracic cavity, and above the pelvic cavity. Its dome-shaped roof is the t ...
. *
Sacral foramina The sacrum (plural: ''sacra'' or ''sacrums''), in human anatomy, is a large, triangular bone at the base of the spine that forms by the fusing of the sacral vertebrae (S1S5) between ages 18 and 30. The sacrum situates at the upper, back part ...
, which perforate the vertebral canal from the Sacrum (sacral bone), and through which the sacral nerves pass. * Vertebral foramen, the foramen formed by the anterior segment (the body), and the posterior part, the vertebral arch. * Foramen of Panizza, a hole connecting two aortas just after they leave the heart in crocodiles.


See also

*
Eta Carinae Eta Carinae (η Carinae, abbreviated to η Car), formerly known as Eta Argus, is a star system, stellar system containing at least binary system, two stars with a combined luminosity greater than five million times that of the Sun, lo ...
* Fossa (disambiguation) *
Skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside ...
* Foraminifera


References

{{set index article Animal anatomy