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Hi Marie-Anne,
I have examined 243 first phalanges of South Scandinavian aurochs (Bos primigenius) for morphological abnormalities, and from your brief description it does not sound like anything I have come across in this material. In Neolithic domestic cattle I have seen severe exostoses between a pair of first phalanges, and I think this reflected an infection of the soft tissue between the toes (perhaps what is known as foul-in-the-foot) with resultant inflammation of the bones. But it's quite hard to say much about what you found without having seen it, so I would encourage you to post one or more photos of this phenomenon on the web page of the Palaeopathology Work Group http://www.apwg.supanet.com/index1.html  In any case, what do you mean, more precisely, by "a regular feature"?
 
Best wishes,
Niels Johannsen
Department of Prehistoric Archaeology,
University of Aarhus
 
 ----- Original Message -----
From: [log in to unmask] href="mailto:[log in to unmask]">Julien Marie-Anne
To: [log in to unmask] href="mailto:[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]
Sent: Sunday, April 17, 2005 12:16 AM
Subject: [ZOOARCH] bison phalanges pathology ?

Hi,

 

I have noticed pitting on the mesial surface of the 1st phalanges in specimens of Bison now (in two cases the phalanges match -i.e., the pitting is between the toes).

Could this be a regular feature rather than a pathology?

 

Many thanks,

 

 

Marie-Anne JULIEN

 

PhD Student

MNHN / University of Montreal

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