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The interactive dog atlas · Skeleton · Head

Orbit orbita

The orbit is the bony cavity in which the eye sits. In the dog, its rim of bone is incomplete on the outer side; the circle is closed by a ligament.

Open in the interactive atlas Guide: Skeleton Worksheet

Educational material, not a diagnostic tool. Written by the Mantrailing România team from veterinary sources we read. Updated 14.11.2026.

Dog in left lateral view — exterior, muscles, skeleton and organs Vector study after the Ellenberger, Baum and Dittrich plates: a standing dog, head to the left, deep chest and digitigrade limbs. The four layers use the same contour: exterior with body regions, superficial muscles, skeleton and organs.
Orbit on the atlas drawing, "Skeleton" layer. Left lateral view, after the Ellenberger, Baum and Dittrich plates.

Where it is

The bony cavity of the eye.

System
Axial skeleton
Region
Head

What it is and what it does

In the dog the bony rim of the orbit is incomplete laterally: the circle is closed by the orbital ligament, which runs from the zygomatic process of the frontal bone to the zygomatic arch. The orbit holds the eyeball, the seven extraocular muscles of domestic mammals (four recti, two obliques and the retractor) and the gland of the third eyelid.

Worth remembering

The orbit holds the eyeball, the muscles that move it and the gland of the third eyelid.

Names

Guides it appears in

From the same region: Head

All structures, in the atlas · Flashcards: skeleton