What the term actually describes
Bitemporal width is the distance between the widest points of the temples — where the hairline curves inward at the sides of the forehead. It's usually expressed as a ratio against a second width:
- Bitemporal width — temple to temple, at the hairline.
- Bizygomatic width — cheekbone to cheekbone, the face's widest point.
Clinical anthropometry commonly cites bitemporal width at roughly 80-85% of bizygomatic width, though quoted figures vary by source. It's a proportion between two widths — not a claim about skull thickness, bone density, or structure beyond those two points.
Where it comes from
Bitemporal width is a standard craniofacial anthropometric measurement, traditionally taken with a spreading caliper between the most lateral points of the temporal region. It's used in facial-form classification and in aesthetic-medicine consults that address temporal hollowing — a genuine clinical measurement long before looksmaxxing forums discussed it as part of a bitemporal-bizygomatic-bigonial "tapering" ratio.
Why a photo is a weak tool for this one specifically
Like any two-point width comparison, bitemporal width is sensitive to head turn — the same yaw problem covered on the cheekbone ratio page. But it carries a second problem those pages don't:
- The temple landmark sits at or near the hairline, not on bone alone.
- Hairstyle, hair volume, a low or receding hairline, or a hat can hide the true temple edge or make it appear somewhere it isn't.
- A single photo can't distinguish "this is where the skull narrows" from "this is where hair happens to start."
That's a landmark-visibility problem, not just an angle problem — a caliper measurement taken directly on skin sidesteps it; a photo generally can't.
Where this fits next to what Mogalytics actually reads
Mogalytics does not track the hairline as a landmark and does not compute or display a separate bitemporal width reading. Its six-measurement composite includes two width-based proportions that share bizygomatic width as an anchor point:
- Cheekbone ratio — cheek width relative to jaw width.
- FWHR — cheek width relative to upper-face height (not computed directly by Mogalytics, but read about on its own page).
Both are read live from a stable landmark set on the face itself, settled over a 30-frame trimmed mean. Mogalytics makes no claim that either is the same measurement as bitemporal width, or that reading cheekbone width live solves the hairline-occlusion problem a bitemporal reading would still have.
Related reads
Bitemporal width is one of three widths forum threads discuss together. If you're auditing the rest:
- Cheekbone ratio — the closest camera-read analog, sharing the bizygomatic anchor point.
- Facial width-to-height ratio (FWHR) — the same bizygomatic width, compared against upper-face height instead.
- Gonial angle — the jaw-corner angle behind bigonial width, the third width in the tapering comparison, read from a side profile.
- Temporal hollowing — the soft-tissue volume trait at the same temple region, a depth read rather than a width ratio.
- Eye separation ratio (ESR) — another proportion built on a facial width, divided by interpupillary distance instead.
- Accuracy — what a camera-based reading can and can't tell you, generally.