Hyoid bone
Os hyoideum
SkeletalSkeletonNeck
- What it is
- U-shaped bone in the front of the neck at the level of C3, with a body and greater and lesser horns; it touches no other bone and hangs from muscles and ligaments.
- Function
- Anchors the tongue and the muscles that raise and lower the larynx during swallowing and speech.
- Size
- ≈ 4 cm across, body 2.5 cm wide
- Clinical note
- A fractured hyoid is a classic forensic sign of strangulation.