Mandible

Bone: Mandible
File:File:Mandibule.jpg
The mandible

The human skull, with the mandible shown in purple at the bottom.
Latin	mandibula
Precursor	1st branchial arch^[1]

The mandible is a bone found in all jawed vertebrates. The name comes from Latin mandibula.

In bony fish the lower jaw is made of a number of bones, but these were gradually reduced in evolution.

In humans and other mammals the mandible is simply the jawbone or dentary, which is the largest and strongest bone of the face.

In mammals bones formerly in the lower jaw have become the ear ossicles.

Mandible Media

Human jaw bone. Front view.
Human jaw bone. Left view.
Medial surface of the right body and ramus, the latter penetrated by the mandibular foramen (right)
The medial and lateral pterygoid muscles attach to the ramus (partly cut away, along with the cheekbone).
German illustration with jawbones cut away to show the inferior alveolar nerve branching to the mandible's dental alveoli and passing through the mental foramen
Illustration showing jaw's basic range of motion
"Baltic" sperm whale in the Museum of the World Ocean, Kalinigrad. Mandible.
Fracture frequency by location
Mandibulectomy procedures as illustrated in the 19th century
Dental implants supporting false teeth