Hard palate

The hard palate forms the dorsal wall of the mouth which separates it from the nasal cavities. It is delimited by the upper dental arch, it is continued caudally by the soft palate at the level of the palatine arch. It is supported by the palatine processes of the maxillae, completed rostrally by the incisive bones and caudally by the palatines. Its reliefs constituted by the incisive papilla, the median raphe and the transverse ridges are characteristic depending on the species, or even the individual.