| Anterior cranial fossa | |
|---|---|
 Superior view of the skull base. Anterior cranial fossa shown in green. 1: Sphenoidal limbus (anterior margin of the chiasmatic groove) | |
 Base of skull. Superior view. Boundaries of the cranial fossae drawn as red lines. | |
| Details | |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | fossa cranii anterior |
| MeSH | D035262 |
| TA98 | A02.1.00.048 |
| TA2 | 451 |
| FMA | 9682 |
| Anatomical terminology | |
The anterior cranial fossa is a depression in the floor of the cranial base which houses the projecting frontal lobes of the brain. It is formed by the orbital plates of the frontal, the cribriform plate of the ethmoid, and the small wings and front part of the body of the sphenoid; it is limited behind by the posterior borders of the small wings of the sphenoid and by the anterior margin of the chiasmatic groove. The lesser wings of the sphenoid separate the anterior and middle fossae.