A Differential Diagnosis of Osteolytic Lesions in the Curated Skeletal Remains of a Tantalus Monkey (Chlorocebus tantalus)

Abstract

In the veterinary and anthropological literature, the pathology of nonhuman primates is heavily focused on soft-tissue involvement and there is scant reference to nonhuman primates in zoopalaeopathology, the study of ancient and historical diseases in animals. We present the curated skeletal remains of a nonhuman primate present with osteolytic lesions consistent with a pathological process. We evaluated the observed pathological changes via an extensive macroscopic analysis of the skeleton, coupled with radiographic images of the affected bones, and provide a differential diagnosis of the skeletal remains using relevant clinical and zoopalaeopathological data. Multiple osteolytic lesions of varying sizes, as well as periosteal new bone, were present on several elements. The lesions affected the skeleton bilaterally, asymmetrically and with no clear focus or pattern. The skeletal lesions were differentially diagnosed as the result of either a metastatic neoplastic disease or a chronic infection. This case provides a zoopalaeopathological example for the study of skeletal lesions in nonhuman primates in anthropological and archaeological collections, where contextual data may not be available.