Britannica AI Icon
Adding us as a Preferred Source tells Google you trust our content, so our articles show up more often in your Google Search, Discover feed, and AI Overviews.
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites

browridge

anatomy
Also known as: supraorbital ridge, supraorbital torus

browridge, bony ridge over the eye sockets (orbits). Browridges are massive in gorillas and chimpanzees and are also well developed in extinct hominids. They are more prominent in males than in females.

Browridges may have served as buttresses against the stress exerted by jaw muscles or as protection for the eyes. In modern man browridges are greatly reduced.