fontanelle in dogs
Anatomical structure that is a membranous gap between bones of the skull[TAO]. In humans: Fontanelles are soft spots on a baby's head which, during birth, enable the bony plates of the skull to flex, allowing the child's head to pass through the birth canal. The ossification of the bones of the skull cause the fontanelles to close over by a child's second birthday. The closures eventually form the sutures of the neurocranium. Although there are the two anterior and posterior fontanelles, there are two more fontanelles of interest, the mastoid fontanelle, and the sphenoidal fontanelle[WP]. Every claim on this page comes from the Leumas anatomy graph and carries its source.
What the fontanelle is
Anatomical structure that is a membranous gap between bones of the skull[TAO]. In humans: Fontanelles are soft spots on a baby's head which, during birth, enable the bony plates of the skull to flex, allowing the child's head to pass through the birth canal. The ossification of the bones of the skull cause the fontanelles to close over by a child's second birthday. The closures eventually form the sutures of the neurocranium. Although there are the two anterior and posterior fontanelles, there are two more fontanelles of interest, the mastoid fontanelle, and the sphenoidal fontanelle[WP]. The atlas records it as a joint at the organ scale in the dog.
Where the fontanelle is
It sits in the head, within the skeletal system. Not positioned individually. Drawn inside the structure this dataset says contains it — the containment is asserted, the exact spot within it is not.
What the fontanelle connects to
The atlas records 6 typed relationships for it, across 4 kinds of connection. part of neurocranium.
Supply and innervation
This dataset asserts no arterial supply, venous drainage or innervation for the fontanelle. Only a minority of structures carry those edges here, so an empty answer means nothing has been recorded — not that there is nothing to record.
Also called
Also recorded as fontanel, fontanelles, fontanels and fonticuli cranii. Searching any of those names reaches this page.
Source
Uberon multi-species anatomy ontology (Mungall et al.), CC BY 4.0. Term UBERON:0002221, version 2026-06-19, retrieved 2026-08-24. Licence: CC-BY-4.0.
- Part of: neurocranium.
- A kind of: cranial suture and fibrous joint.
- Adjacent to: cranial suture.
- subtype: anterior fontanel and posterior fontanelle.
Questions
Where is the fontanelle?
It sits in the head, within the skeletal system. Not positioned individually. Drawn inside the structure this dataset says contains it — the containment is asserted, the exact spot within it is not.
What does the fontanelle connect to?
Part of: neurocranium.
Is the fontanelle the same in other species?
This page describes the dog. The human record of the same structure sits beside it on /compare, over one shared model rather than two atlases built separately.