Occipital Bone

The "occipital bone" joins the parietal bones along the "lambdoidal suture." It forms the back of the skull and the base of the cranium. There is a large opening on its lower surface called the "foramen magnum," through which nerve fibers from the brain pass and enter the vertebral canal to become part of the spinal cord. Rounded processes called "occipital condyles," which are located on each side of the foramen magnum, unite with the first vertebra of the spinal column. The junction of the sagitall and lambdoid sutures is called the "lambda."