Anterior fontanelle of a newborn infant!!
Although the skull appears to be one large bone, there are actually several major bones that are connected together. The major bones that compose the skull of a newborn include the 2 frontal bones, 2 parietal bones, and 1 occipital bone. These bony plates cover the brain and are held together by fibrous material called sutures. Sutures allow the bones to move during the birth process. They act like an expansion joint, allowing the bone to enlarge evenly as the brain grows and the skull expands, resulting in a symmetrically shaped head. On the other hand, fontanelles (or soft spots) are the space between the bones of an infant's skull where the sutures intersect. They are covered by tough membranes. The anterior fontanelle seen here is the junction where the two frontal and two parietal bones meet, at the junction of the sagittal, coronal, and frontal sutures. The fontanelle allows the skull to deform during birth to ease its passage through the birth canal and for expansion of the brain after birth, and most often closes between 7 to 19 months. .
