Traumatism of Grey Wolf (<i>Canis Lupus</i>, Canidae, Carnivora) Skulls in the Center of the European Part of Russia

Abstract

A total of 297 wolf skulls from the collection of the Central Forest State Biosphere Reserve were studied for the presence of injuries. Of these, 129 (43.4 ± 2.9%) skulls had traumas of various origins or a deformed sagittal crest. Aside from the sagittal crest, the rate of traumas was 32.3 ± 2.7%. Based on the causes of origin, the traumas were divided into three groups: those received when hunting moose, as a result of aggressive intraspecific contacts, and accidental. Complicated fractures of dental crowns predominate among accidental traumas. Moose hunting traumas and intraspecific aggression are more common in subadult wolves than in adults, this being explicable by the elimination of injured animals. The incidence of accidental traumas, on the other hand, was increased with age. The level of traumas serves as a population characteristic indicating tension in the predator-prey system and the degree of intraspecific aggression.