The skull at birth, showing the anterior and posterior fontanelles.

The skull at birth, showing the lateral fontanelle.

In human anatomy, a fontanelle (or fontanel) is one of two "soft spots" on a newborn human's skull. Jump to: navigation, search Human anatomy or anthropotomy is a special field within anatomy. ... A human infant The word infant derives from the Latin in-fans, meaning unable to speak. ... Jump to: navigation, search Binomial name Homo sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 Subspecies Homo sapiens idaltu (extinct) Homo sapiens sapiens For other uses, see Human (disambiguation). ... Jump to: navigation, search A hippopotamuss skull A skull, or cranium, is a bony structure of Craniates which serves as the general framework for a head. ...

The skull of a newborn consists of five main bones: two frontal bones, two parietal bones, and one occipital bone. These are joined by fibrous "sutures" which allow movement that facilitates childbirth and brain growth. The frontal bone (os frontale) is a bone in the human skull that resembles a cockle-shell in form, and consists of two portions—a vertical portion, the squama, corresponding with the region of the forehead; and an orbital or horizontal portion, which enters into the formation of the roofs... The parietal bones (os parietale) are bones in the human skull and form, by their union, the sides and roof of the cranium. ... Jump to: navigation, search The occipital bone [Fig. ... Childbirth (also called labour, birth, partus or parturition) is the culmination of a human pregnancy with the emergence of a newborn infant from its mothers uterus. ... Jump to: navigation, search In the anatomy of animals, the brain, or encephalon, is the higher, supervisory center of the nervous system. ... growth is the physical increase in size. ...

At birth, the skull features a small posterior fontanelle, an open area covered by a tough membrane, where the two parietal bones adjoin the occipital bone. This fontanelle usually closes during the first several months of an infant's life. It has been suggested that Net flux be merged into this article or section. ...

There is also a much larger, diamond-shaped anterior fontanelle where the two frontal and two parietal bones abut. This fontanelle remains open until the child is about two years of age.