Caudal Facial Endochondral Bones

The caudal endochondral bones include, among others, the hyoid bone, which consists of a body and left and right greater and lesser cornu (horns), which fuse in early adulthood. Endochondral ossification involves a cartilaginous template that is replaced by or remodeled into bone by processes that involve several coordinated steps that can include calcification of the cartilage matrix, hypertrophy of chondrocytes followed by apoptosis, resorption of calcified cartilage, recruitment of osteoblasts, and deposition of woven bone (and later lamellar bone) on the surface of mineralized cartilage residues.