Fontanelle
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- This is about the human anatomical feature. For the album by Babes in Toyland, see Fontanelle (album).
| Missing image Gray197.png The skull at birth, showing the anterior and posterior fontanelles. |
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In human anatomy, a fontanelle is one of two "soft spots" on a newborn human's skull.
The skull of a newborn consists of five main bones: two frontal bones, two parietal bones, and one occipital bone. These are joined by fibrous "sutures" which allow movement that facilitates childbirth and brain growth.
At birth, there is a small posterior fontanelle, an open area covered by a tough membrane, where the two parietal bones adjoin the occipital bone. This fontanelle usually closes during the first several months of an infant's life.
There is also a much larger, diamond-shaped anterior fontanelle, where the two frontal and two parietal bones are adjacent. This fontanelle remains open until about two years of age.de:Fontanelle fr:Fontanelle it:Fontanella (anatomia)