Cross-analysis of osteological variables and genome-wide SNPs has identified specific genes that control this craniofacial development. Variation in craniofacial form between humans is largely due to differing patterns of biological inheritance. As with the neurocranium, in Chondricthyes and other cartilaginous vertebrates, they are not replaced via endochondral ossification.

The facial skeleton is composed of dermal bone and derived from the neural crest cells (also responsible for the development of the neurocranium, teeth and adrenal medulla) or from the sclerotome, which derives from the somite block of the mesoderm. The mandible is generally considered separately from the cranium. Because the maxillary bones are fused, they are often collectively listed as only one bone. The ethmoid bone (or a part of it) and also the sphenoid bone are sometimes included, but otherwise considered part of the neurocranium. In the human skull, the facial skeleton consists of fourteen bones in the face: Įlements of the cartilaginous viscerocranium (i.e., splanchnocranial elements), such as the hyoid bone, are sometimes considered part of the facial skeleton. In human anatomy and development, the facial skeleton is sometimes called the membranous viscerocranium, which comprises the mandible and dermatocranial elements that are not part of the braincase. The remainder of the skull is the neurocranium. The facial skeleton comprises the facial bones that may attach to build a portion of the skull.

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