Ossicones are the helmet-like bony knobs on the heads of adult male giraffes and some other giraffid species, formed from ossified cartilage. They are permanent, keratin-covered protuberances that arise from the skull and are not from hair. In zoology and anatomy, ossicones distinguish certain species and play roles in thermoregulation and display. The term also appears in scholarly descriptions of mammals with similar cranial processes.
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