ossicone

American  

[ah-si-kohn] / ˈɑ sɪˌkoʊn /

noun

• ossicones
  plural

1. Zoology. in giraffes and related animals such as okapi, either of the pair of hornlike, skin-covered projections of ossified cartilage on the top of the head.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• ossicones
  plural

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ossicones

"These results help us understand the evolutionary history of horns and antlers and could suggest that differences in other ruminant cranial appendages, like ossicones and pronghorns, are also elaborations on a shared ancestral cranial appendage."

From Science Daily ● May 20, 2024

Willow went from being an “awkward calf with ossicones that looked like pigtails to a beautiful icon of the zoo and her vulnerable species,” zookeepers said in a statement.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 29, 2023

Giraffes “hit sideways with their head and neck,” instead of head on, Dr. Solounias said, clobbering each other with their bony, hornlike ossicones.

From New York Times ● Jun. 2, 2022

To establish social dominance, male giraffes engage in a practice known as necking, swinging their heads at each other and trying to score a hit with their ossicones, the horn-like growths on their skulls.

From The New Yorker ● May 17, 2016

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