Extinct Columbian (Mammuthus columbi) and Channel Island (M. exilis) Mammoths Fact Sheet: Diseases & Pathology

Abnormalities in fossils bones may show evidence of arthritis, cancer, nutritional stress, fractures and more.

• Pathologies on mammoth bones, especially vertebrae and limb bones are common.
• One mammoth studied was estimated to be nearly 60 years in age, with arthritic changes in many bones of his body.(Gillette & Madsen 1993)
  • Severe arthritis of most vertebrae
  • Bone loss of many rib facets
  • Bony growths restricting front limb movement
• A woolly mammoth from western Siberia showed degenerative changes in much of its skeleton (Leshchinskiy 2003).
• Woolly mammoth bones from Poland have several pathologies (Krzeminska 2008)
  • Healed fractures
  • Malformations of vertebrae, wrist bones, teeth
  • Furrows on the cement surface of teeth
  • Depressions in bone from abscesses

McDonald (1981)
Morrow (2006)
Fisher (2001)
Jefferson and Goldin (1989)