The crista galli (Latin: "crest of the rooster") is a wedge-shaped, vertical, midline upward continuation of the perpendicular plate of the ethmoid bone of the skull, projecting above the cribriform plate into the cranial cavity. It serves as an attachment for the membranes surrounding the brain.

Structure

Attachments

The falx cerebri (a fold of the dura mater surrounding the brain) attaches to the crista galli.

Relations

The olfactory bulbs of the olfactory nerve lie on either side of the crista galli on top of the cribriform plate.

Variation

The base of crista galli varies in height. A bifid crista galli may suggest intracranial extension of a nasal dermoid cyst.