Sciatic nerve from spinal nerves L4 to S3. It contains fibers from both the anterior and posterior divisions of the lumbosacral plexus. The sciatic nerve is formed from the L4 to S3 segments of the sacral plexus, a collection of nerve fibres that emerge from the sacral part of the spinal cord. The fibres unite to form a single nerve in front of the piriformis muscle. The nerve passes beneath piriformis and through the greater sciatic foramen, exiting the pelvis. From here, it travels down the posterior thigh to the popliteal fossa. The nerve travels in the posterior compartment of the thigh
Petrous part of the temporal bone highly degraded, and contaminated by DNA from soil microbes. In 2015 it was found, surprisingly, that the petrous bone has remarkably high preservation of DNA. A 2017 study comparing DNA from different skeletal sites concluded that "The inner part of petrous bones and the cementum layer in teeth roots are currently recognized as the best substrates for (ancient DNA) research...Both substrates display significantly higher endogenous DNA content (average of 16.4% and 40.0% for teeth and petrous bones, respectively) than parietal skull bone (average of 2.2%)." Consequently, petrous bones are now the most widely-used skeletal site for the study of ancient