Occurrence of vertebral osteophytosis in a museum sample of white-beaked dolphins (Lagenorhynchus albirostris) from Danish waters

Anders Galatius, Christian Sonne, Carl Christian Kinze, Rune Dietz, Jens-Erik Beck Jensen

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The occurrence of pathologic new bone formation in the vertebral column was studied in 46 skeletons of the white-beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris) stranded in Denmark between 1903 and 2002 and held in the collections of the Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen. New bone formation was evident in 18 (72%) of 25 physically mature specimens and in one of 21 physically immature specimens. This pattern of occurrence is consistent with spondylosis deformans, which is caused by degeneration of the intervertebral disk. In general, females seemed to be more susceptible, exhibiting a higher number of affected vertebrae and more severe cases. Lesions were predominantly detected in the lumbar and cranial caudal vertebra. Data on blubber thickness were available for part of the sample; one of the most heavily afflicted specimens had the thickest recorded blubber, indicating that secondary bone formation leading to blocks of fused vertebrae had not necessarily impaired the body condition of afflicted specimens. However, age determinations conducted on the sample revealed that none of the most severe cases occurred among the oldest animals, implying that these severe cases may cause premature fatality.
Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Wildlife Diseases
Volume45
Issue number1
Pages (from-to)19-28
Number of pages9
ISSN0090-3558
Publication statusPublished - 2009

Bibliographical note

Keywords: Age Factors; Animals; Denmark; Dolphins; Female; Male; Severity of Illness Index; Sex Factors; Spinal Osteophytosis; Spondylitis, Ankylosing

Cite this