Secondary palate

The secondary palate is the partition that separates the nasal passages from the oral cavity behind the primary palate. In mammals, it includes the hard palate and soft palate.

Primary palate: The front portion of the palate, formed from the intermaxillary segment during embryonic development. It lies in front of the secondary palate and meets it near the incisive foramen.
Palatogenesis: The embryonic formation of the palate through growth, elevation, and fusion of tissue structures. It is the developmental process that produces the secondary palate.
Cleft palate: A congenital opening in the palate caused by incomplete fusion of its developing parts. It is the clearest structural failure of secondary-palate formation.
Primary palate in reptiles: The anterior palatal structure in reptiles, which may remain the principal partition between mouth and nasal passages. Many reptiles lack the extensive secondary partition characteristic of mammals.
Mastication: The mechanical breakdown of food by chewing. A separated nasal passage permits chewing without completely blocking airflow.
Hard palate: The bony, front portion of the roof of the mouth in mammals. It is the ossified front region of the mammalian secondary palate.
Cranial neural crest: Embryonic cells that migrate from the developing brain region and contribute to much of the face and skull. Their descendants supply much of the connective tissue and bone in the palate.
Pierre Robin sequence: A congenital condition involving a small lower jaw, backward tongue displacement, and often cleft palate. The displaced tongue can obstruct palatal shelf elevation during development.
Choana: An internal opening connecting a nasal cavity with the mouth or throat. Its position shifts behind the secondary palate in vertebrates with an elongated palate.
Mammalian jaw evolution: The evolutionary changes that produced the distinctive jaw structure of mammals. Palatal separation accompanied changes in feeding and ventilation in mammalian evolution.

Linked from 15 pages