Flap of fibrocartilage that covers the entrance to the larynx helping prevent food and drink entering the trachea. It is one of nine cartilages that make up the larynx.  The free upper part is  broad and rounded. The lower, narrow part is attached to the angle formed by the two laminæ of the thyroid cartilage, a short distance below the superior thyroid notch, by the thyroepiglottic ligament. The lower part of its anterior surface is connected to the upper border of the body of the hyoid bone by an elastic ligamentous band, the hyoepiglottic ligament. The bulging posterior part of the inferior part of the epiglottis is known as the petiole. the epiglottis is normally pointed upward when breathing, speaking or singing rises during swallowing with the elevation of the hyoid bone moving to a more horizontal position and pointing backwards.