Having an incompletely developed or malformed head; relating to a fetus or organism with head defects.
From 'atelo-' (incomplete) + 'cephalous' (from Greek 'kephale' meaning head), combining incomplete with the suffix for head-related conditions, used in embryology and teratology.
In developmental biology, atelocephalous describes the tragic birth defects like anencephaly where significant portions of the head and brain fail to develop—the very word carries the weight of severe malformation.
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