Navicular fossa of male urethra

Navicular fossa of male urethra
The male urethra laid open on its anterior (upper) surface.
Latin	fossa navicularis urethrae
Gray's	subject #256 1235

The cavernous portion of the urethra is narrow, and of uniform size in the body of the penis, measuring about 6 mm in diameter; it is dilated behind, within the bulb, and again anteriorly within the glans penis, where it forms the fossa navicularis urethræ.

The navicular fossa is the spongy part of the male urethra located at the Glans Penis portion. It is essentially the part right before the External Urethral Orifice. It is lined by stratified squamous, non-keratinizing epithelium if viewed histologically. DOTE Anatomy - 2007

During development, the glans of the penis is initially solid but cannulates to give rise to the navicular fossa.

External links

• SUNY Labs 44:06-0205 - "The Male Pelvis: The Urethra"
• Human anatomy at Dartmouth figures/chapter_35/35-1.HTM

This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained within it may be outdated.