Definitions for "Epipterygoid"
Situated upon or above the pterygoid bone.
An epipterygoid bone or cartilage; the columella in the skulls of many lizards.
The epipterygoid is a misnomer. Like the quadrates, the epipterygoids are ossified portions of the palatoquadrate (the original upper jaw which, like the hyomandibular, is homologous with an upper gill arch segment). The epipterygoids often appear to arise from the pterygoid, but do not. The epipterygoids are the true, old stuff of the palatoquadrate, while the pterygoid is but common dermal bone with pretensions. In fact, the epipterygoids are the original braincase articulations of the palatoquadrate. They demonstrate this ancient nobility by rising up in a graceful curve to reach the bones of the skull roof, like the last remaining columns of an abandoned temple.