Sella turcica




The sella turcica (Latin for Turkish seat) is a saddle-shaped depression in the body of the sphenoid bone of the human skull and of the skulls of other hominids including chimpanzees, orangutans, and gorillas. It serves as a cephalometric landmark. The seat of the saddle, the deepest part of the sella turcica known as the hypophyseal fossa, holds the pituitary gland (hypophysis).