Jugal bone

The jugal is a skull bone found in most reptiles, amphibians and birds.

[3] This bone is considered key in the determination of general traits in cases in which the entire skull has not been found intact (for instance, as with dinosaurs in paleontology).

[7] In mammals, including humans, the jugal bone is more commonly referred to as the zygoma.

[9] The zygoma provides important functions as the origin of the masseter muscle and as a point of resistance for masticatory forces.

Preliminary studies also indicate that variation in zygomatic structure may be useful in determining ancestral origins of modern human populations.