chondrocranium

[kon-droh-krey-nee-uhm]

noun

plural

chondrocraniums, chondrocrania 

1. a braincase composed of cartilage rather than bone, as the skull of sharks and of the vertebrate embryo before ossification.

Word History and Origins

Origin of chondrocranium¹

First recorded in 1870–75; chondr(i)o- + cranium

Example Sentences

I. The chondrocranium, jaws, arches, and muscles of a partly grown larva.

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These two conditions result from the inability of the dermal bones to fill at the proper period the gaps in the chondrocranium.

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The deficiencies in the chondrocranium appear in the occipital bone, which requires a small portion of the dermal bone to complete it on each side.

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Behind, the primary skull or chondrocranium gives off two occipal or rear skull plates.

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The fontanelles, or soft places at the top, sides, and back of the head of the new-born child, are the remains of this failure of the chondrocranium, or primary skull, to cover the gains of the nervous system in the struggle for existence.

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