Styloid process
Processus styloideus
Definition
The styloid process gives attachment to the proximal part of the hyoid apparatus.
In domestic animals, the union is ensured by a cartilaginous or fibrous segment (Tympanohyoideum) and the process is not very prominent; cylindroid in Equidae and Bulls, replaced by a simple roughness in Pigs and Carnivorous. In Men, the tympanohyoideum ossifies, sothat the proximal segment of the hyoid apparatus (stylohyoideum) merges to the petrous part of the temporal bone and appears therefore as a long pointy extension. The styloid process belongs to the petrous part, it is wraped/sheath in a thin bony plate belonging to the petrous part: the vaginal crest (Vagina processus styloidei) well visible in Equidae and Ruminants, weak or absent in other species.
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