Meanings
- not comparableExhibiting ossiphagy
The data suggest a correlation between HSB type and feeding type, especially of zigzag HSB with ossiphagous feeding.
1999, C Stefen, “Enamel microstructure of recent and fossil Canidae (Carnivora: Mammalia)”, in Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology2 more examples
Felids are represented by 17 extant species, which cover nearly two orders of magnitude in body size, and hyaenids include the three ossiphagous species of this family.
2010, Borja Figueirido, Juan A. Pérez-Claros, Vanessa Torregrosa, Alberto Martín-Serra, Paul Palmqvist, “Demythologizing Arctodus simus, the 'short-faced' long-legged and predaceous bear that never was”, in Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, volume 30, number 1Werdelin [103 ] distinguishes two morphotypes among ossiphageous carnivores: the bone-crackers (e.g., spotted hyaenas), which break bones with their premolars, and bone-crushers (e.g., wolves) that break bones with their post-carnassial molars.
2015 September 24, “A New Large Hyainailourine from the Bartonian of Europe and Its Bearings on the Evolution and Ecology of Massive Hyaenodonts (Mammalia)”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI
Cite this entry
ossiphagous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ossiphagous
“ossiphagous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ossiphagous. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ossiphagous,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ossiphagous.
Source: ossiphagous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.