Fig. 4.

Lateral, dorsal, and caudal views of a standardized lizard skull which highlight the bones that must be removed to extract the brain. Prior to the removal of the skull, the head should be pinned through the external nares and upper temporal fenestras (step 5.1). First, the postorbital bone is cut, represented by the red lines (step 5.2). Second, the spine, shown in purple, is removed (step 5.4). Third, the posterior skull, in green, is removed (step 5.6). Fourth, the dorsal skull, in orange, is removed (steps 5.7–5.8). Finally, the ear bones, in yellow, are removed (step 5.11).