No abstract

Breeding and trading dogs are subject to strict regulation, both to safeguard animal welfare and public health. These legal requirements may be tailored to specific developmental stages and age categories of the dog. For instance, puppies under 8 weeks of age may not be transported within the EU without their mothers (Council Regulation [EC] N° 1/2005). Puppies traded across borders may currently not be under 15 weeks of age due to the rabies vaccination protocol (Annex III to Regulation [EU] N° 576/2013 and Directive 92/65/EEC). A swift and reliable assessment of age is therefore a prerequisite to verify that legal age requirements are met (Modina

Abstract Předmostí is one of the most famous Gravettian sites in Central Europe. Its fame is based on a unique human assemblage, sadly largely destroyed during the Second World War, a huge mammoth assemblage and a very rich large canid assemblage. It has been shown previously that mammoth played an important role in the subsistence practices of the Gravettian inhabitants of Předmostí. Detailed analyses of the large canid postcranial material were carried out to investigate whether these canid remains can be assigned to different size groups and whether these remains show evidence of being butchered and consumed by humans. Based on defleshing marks and impact traces on the long bones, it is proposed here that large canids were consumed by the Gravettian inhabitants of Předmostí, thus further elucidating the specific human-large canid relationships that existed during the Upper Palaeolithic.

The sesamoid bone in the tendon of the m. abductor digiti primi longus is considered present in most dog breeds and is described to be radiologically detectable at the level of the carpus from the age of 4 months. However, an extensive investigation of this sesamoid bone has not been conducted before. The aim of this study was therefore to determine its prevalence in different dog breeds, to describe its histological development, and to determine the age at which it becomes radiologically visible. The prevalence of the sesamoid bone was assessed on radiographic images of the carpus or by dissection of the carpal region in 743 adult dogs of 115 breeds. Its development was studied by dissection and histological analysis in 45 puppies and its timing of radiological appearance was evaluated in 209 puppies. At least one sesamoid bone was present in all adult dogs, except for 14 dogs of six breeds of predominantly the small breed category. The lowest prevalence rate of 38.46% was exhibited in the French bulldog. The histological development could be divided into five stages. The first radiographic appearance corresponded to the coalescence of smaller ossification centers into one big nucleus (stage 4). The mean time of radiographic appearance was 108.4 days. This study provides extensive data on the prevalence and timing of the radiographic appearance of a sesamoid at the carpus of the dog. The data on radiographic appearance may be helpful in the age estimation of puppies.

Age determination in dogs is important in many disciplines. For instance, in veterinary clinical practice, knowledge of the exact age of a dog can contribute to establishing a (better) differential diagnosis, prognosis and treatment (Gesierich et al., 2015;Tobias et al., 2000).In zooarchaeology, estimating the age at death of dogs on (bony) remains can give clues in understanding the process of their domestication and the roles dogs played in past societies (Nomokonova et al., 2020). Forensic age estimation, particularly of dogs involved in trade, is yet another application that is gaining more and more importance (Modina et al., 2019;Broeck & Cornillie, 2020). Finally, the adoption of foreign stray dogs is becoming very popular in many Western European countries (Norman et al., 2020). Knowledge of their age can be important for population management (FAO, 2014) and in assessing trainability and longevity after adoption (Tobias et al., 2000;Wells & Hepper, 2000).The most commonly advised age estimation methods for living dogs are the inspection of dental eruption in puppies and the determination of the epiphysial union of the long bones in grow-