petrous

Example Sentences

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To investigate further, scientists extracted ancient DNA from the petrous portion of the temporal bone in both skeletons, an area known for preserving genetic material.

From Science Daily • Feb. 17, 2026

Researchers targeted DNA stored in the petrous, a very dense bone that envelopes the inner ear.

From New York Times • May 26, 2022

The researchers located ancient DNA in their petrous bones—dense inner ear bones that preserve genetic material particularly well—but only managed to successfully retrieve a complete genome from the man.

From Science Magazine • May 26, 2022

Then, sifting through several large pieces of skull, he finds both petrous bones — dense nuggets behind the ear that preserve DNA better than other parts of the skeleton or the teeth.

From Nature • Sep. 18, 2016

Petrō′sal, of great hardness: petrous; Pē′trous, like stone: hard: rocky.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various