petrous

adjective

pe·​trous ˈpe-trəs  ˈpē- 

: of, relating to, or constituting the exceptionally hard and dense portion of the human temporal bone that contains the internal auditory organs

Examples of petrous in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In late 2019, the team sampled four teeth and a bit of the DNA-rich petrous bone—part of the skull right behind the ear—of 11 individuals. —Byrodrigo Pérez Ortega, science.org, 11 Sep. 2024

How twins were identified To avoid sampling the same child twice, the team used the same bone from each child — the petrous bone in the base of the skull. —Katie Hunt, CNN, 12 June 2024

Beyond that, the skulls of both individuals were encased by the ash, preserving the dense petrous bone near the ear — an area where intact DNA is also likely to be preserved. —Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 7 July 2022

Academics analyzed petrous bones located at the base of the skull of two sets of remains found in the Casa del Fabbro, or House of the Craftsman. —Elizabeth Djinis, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 May 2022

Efforts to fully sequence the genetic material of an elderly woman whose skeletal remains were found near the man’s failed because there were too many gaps in the DNA taken from her petrous, according to the study authors. —Aylin Woodward, WSJ, 26 May 2022

To optimize their chance of success, the researchers targeted the DNA stored in the petrous, a super dense bone that encases the inner ear. —National Geographic, 22 Jan. 2020

More recently, scientists have used the petrous bone of the skull, a highly dense bone near the ear, to extract ancient DNA. —Jay Bennett, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 May 2012

But then Johannes Krause and his team at Germany’s Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History tested the samples from a handful of petrous bones. —Andrew Curry, National Geographic, 12 July 2019

Word History

Etymology

Middle English petrouse, petrous, borrowed from Latin petrōsus "rocky, stony," from petra "rock" (borrowed from Greek pétra) + -ōsus -ous — more at petro-

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for petrous

• buttress

Medical Definition

petrous

adjective

pe·​trous ˈpe-trəs  ˈpē- 

: of, relating to, or constituting the exceptionally hard and dense portion of the human temporal bone that contains the internal auditory organs and is a pyramidal process wedged in at the base of the skull between the sphenoid and occipital bones with its lower half exposed on the surface of the skull and pierced by the external auditory canal