culmen
/ˈkʌlmɛn
/noun (plural culmina /ˈkʌlmɪnə/)
1 Ornithology The upper ridge of a bird’s bill.Old World sparrows are small to medium sized, stocky birds with a short bill with a decurved culmen and short legs....
- Prey size was estimated by comparing the length of the exposed bill culmen of adults with the length of the prey.
- For both species, body size traits (in mm) included mean tarsus length, mean flattened wing chord, tail length, and culmen length (base of cere to tip of beak).
2 Anatomy A small region in the brain on the anterior surface of the cerebellum.In the midline, above the central lobule, the culmen projects above the rest of the superior surface of the cerebellum.
Origin
Mid 17th century (in the sense 'top, summit'): from Latin, contraction of columen 'top, summit'.