Paleopathology of a fossil macropod population

Abstract

A number of bones of Macropus titan and a Protemnodon species from a Pleistocene fossil site at Lancefield, Vic., show pathological conditions. The diseases indicated are 'lumpy jaw', osteoarthritis, periostitis and osteomyelitis, some of which may be the result of slight injuries. In addition there were two healed fractures and four jaws with a dental abnormality of a previously undescribed kind. The presence of lumpy jaw indicates a long history for this disease (the site is 26,000 years old). Calculations of the prevalence of disease at this site provides further data relevant to hypotheses about the cause of death of the animals and the reasons for the bone accumulation.