Study finds that Ice Age sabre-tooth cats and dire wolves had joint diseases

Researchers have discovered that Ice Age sabre-tooth cats and dire wolves, like modern-day pet cats and dogs, experienced joint diseases.

Osteochondrosis, a bone disease that affects the joints of humans and various domesticated species, was identified in fossilized arm and leg bones of sabre-tooth cats (Smilodon fatalis) and dire wolves (Aenocyon dirus) from 55,000 to 12,000 years ago.

While cases of this disease in wild species are not well-documented, this study provides evidence of its presence in Ice Age predators.

The study authors stated, “This study adds to the growing literature on Smilodon and dire wolf paleopathology, made possible by the unparalleled large sample sizes at the La Brea Tar Pits & Museum.

“This collaboration between palaeontologists and veterinarians confirms that these animals, though they were large predators that lived through tough times and are now extinct, shared common ailments with the cats and dogs in our very homes today.”

Over 1,000 limb bones of sabre-tooth cats and more than 500 of dire wolves from the Late Pleistocene La Brea Tar Pits were examined in this research.

Signs of a bone disease called osteochondrosis dissecans (OCD) were found in many bones, predominantly in shoulder and knee joints, with an incidence as high as 7% of the examined bones, significantly higher than in modern species.

Further study on other fossil sites may reveal patterns in the prevalence of this disease, including its potential impact on the hunting abilities of these Ice Age predators.