✦ LIBER ✦
Fork formation and other signs of osteophagia on a long bone swallowed by a red deer stag (Cervus elaphus)
✍ Scribed by Uwe Kierdorf
- Book ID
- 102556517
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1993
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 316 KB
- Volume
- 3
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1047-482X
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
A right anterior cannon bone (0s metacarpale 3 + 4) of a red deer that was found in the reticulum of a 7-year-old red deer stag is described. The bone, which had accidentally been swallowed by the stag, showed clear signs of bone chewing (osteophagia), the most prominent being the formation of a fork at its distal end. Knowledge of the possible bone changes brought about by ruminant osteophagia may prevent the erroneous interpretation of skeletal remains as being worked by hominids.