To their margins are attached the capsules of the atlanto-occipital joints, and on the medial side of each is a rough impression or tubercle for the alar ligament.

Surgery may become necessary if there is significant compression of the brainstem, spinal cord, the lower cranial nerves or cervical arteries.

Symptoms of an isolated occipital condyle fracture resemble those of other craniocervical injuries, including high cervical pain, reduced range of motion, unusual head / neck posture, prevertebral swelling, and possibly lower cranial nerve (IX, X, XI, XII) deficits, tetraparesis or abnormal breathing.

Here, the occipital condyle is a single rounded projection that is present on the rear of the skull and articulates with the first cervical (neck) vertebra.

In most dinosaurs, the occipital condyle is situated at the rear part of the skull, below the foramen magnum, and points toward the posterior of the animal.