The External Nose
Protruding prominently from the face, the external nose serves as a vent for air exchange.
Its shape is supported by bone, hyaline cartilage, and dense fibrous connective tissue. The upper half is framed by the nasal bones and the sides by the medial plates of the maxilla bones. The flexible lower half is framed by the lateral, greater alar, lesser alar cartilages.
Air enters the nose through two openings called the external nares or nostrils and is directed back into the nasal cavity. Partitioning the two nostrils is the septal cartilage. Dense fibrous connective tissue supports the rounded lateral walls of the nostrils, which are called ala nasi.
