ossiferous

American  

[o-sif-er-uhs] / ɒˈsɪf ər əs /

adjective

1. containing bones, especially fossil bones.

   ossiferous caves and rock beds.

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ossiferous British  

/ ɒˈsɪfərəs /

adjective

1. geology containing or yielding bones

   ossiferous caves

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Etymology

Origin of ossiferous

1815–25; < Latin ossi- (combining form of os ) bone + -ferous

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ossiferous

We know, however, that, before the Recent period, that continent was peopled with large kangaroos, and other herbivorous and carnivorous marsupials, of species long since extinct, their remains having been discovered in ossiferous caverns.

From The Antiquity of Man by Sir Charles Lyell

Connected with the diluvium is the history of ossiferous caverns, of which specimens singly exist at Kirkdale in Yorkshire, Gailenreuth in Franconia, and other places. 

From Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation by Robert Chambers

Brixham Cave, called also Windmill Hill Cavern, is a well-known ossiferous cave situated near Brixham, on the brow of a hill composed of Devonian limestone.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3 "Brescia" to "Bulgaria" by Various

Its remains are found not only in Ireland but in Scotland and England, and on the Continent, where they occur in bogs, lacustrine deposits, brick-clay, and ossiferous caves.

From The New Gresham Encyclopedia Volume 4, Part 2: Ebert to Estremadura by Various

He distinguished five ossiferous levels and picked up some flints of the Mousterien type, and even some Chelleen hatchets, to which he gave the name of coups DE POING.

From Manners and Monuments of Prehistoric Peoples by N. D'Anvers

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