biology

Intertemporal bone

Intertemporal bone is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Intertemporal bone rather than just read about it. In short: The intertemporal bone is a paired cranial bone present in certain sarcopterygians (lobe-finned fish) and extinct amphibian-grade tetrapods. It lies in the rear part of the skull, behind the eyes.

Key takeaways

Intertemporal bone belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Intertemporal bone to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Intertemporal bone from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The intertemporal bone is a paired cranial bone present in certain sarcopterygians (lobe-finned fish) and extinct amphibian-grade tetrapods. It lies in the rear part of the skull, behind the eyes. Many lineages of four-limbed vertebrates ("tetrapods" in the broad sense) have lost the intertemporal bone. These include Acanthostega, Icththyostega, colosteids (except for a vestigial intertemporal in Greererpeton), diadectomorphs, lepospondyls, and amniotes. Lissamphibians (i.e. modern amphibians like frogs, salamanders, and caecilians) also lack an intertemporal. Most temnospondyls lack an intertemporal, though several early groups like edopoids, dvinosaurs, and various other basal taxa retain the bone. Tetrapod groups which do possess an intertemporal typically have it contact the parietal bone along its inner edge, the postfrontal and postorbital bones along its front and/or outer edge, and the supratemporal bone along its rear edge. Rarely, the intertemporal may also contact the squamosal bone at a point between its contact with the postorbital and supratemporal. When the intertemporal bone is lost, either the postfrontal and supratemporal lengthen to contact each other (or the tabular bone in case the supratemporal is also lost), or the parietal widens to contact the postorbital. It has been suggested that the intertemporal is homologous to the postorbital plate of placoderms and the dermosphenotic bone of actinopterygians (ray-finned fish).

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Intertemporal bone

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Intertemporal bone claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Intertemporal bone before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Intertemporal bone ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Intertemporal bone

In research: Intertemporal bone appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Intertemporal bone in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Intertemporal bone is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Amphibian anatomy, Fish anatomy, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Intertemporal bone outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Intertemporal bone in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Intertemporal bone means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Intertemporal bone out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Intertemporal bone in simple terms?

The intertemporal bone is a paired cranial bone present in certain sarcopterygians (lobe-finned fish) and extinct amphibian-grade tetrapods. It lies in the rear part of the skull, behind the eyes.

Why does Intertemporal bone matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Intertemporal bone?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Intertemporal bone.