The carotid canal (also carotid outlet, Greek κῶλον τρίχωμνόν, Latin canalis carotis, or caricola; Latin caricula; caelunum plicatum; anat. Gegenmundung, Greek: “a kind of opposite circulation”) is an unpaired vessel in the human brain and most others vertebrates. The heart is formed by the common carotid artery and glossopharyngeal nerve. Resp. Carotid artery.