The skeleton of a wild coyote (Canis latrans), collected in Alturas, California (USA), in 1940 and reported to have died of a blowfly infection, was analyzed. The axial components, primarily a series of fused and deformed vertebrae, had classic osteological indications of spondylosis deformans, a trauma-induced disorder. Severe crippling due to a crushing-type strain was identified as the primary pathological condition to which the coyote succumbed, with death hastened by vertebral degeneration and the complicating infection.
How to translate text using browser tools
1 April 1997
A CASE OF SPONDYLOSIS DEFORMANS IN THE DEFLESHED SKELETON OF A WILD COYOTE AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE TO OSTEOPATHOLOGIC INTERPRETATION
Geordie L. Duckler
Journal of Wildlife Diseases
Vol. 33 • No. 2
April 1997
Vol. 33 • No. 2
April 1997
Canis latrans
coyote
osteopathological
Spondylosis deformans