. Annals of the South African Museum = Annale van die Suid-Afrikaanse Museum. Natural history. AGRIOTHER1UM FROM LANGEBAANWEG, SOUTH AFRICA 65 a hyaena, and this was done while the bones were still articulated. The phalanges, metacarpal I and distal ends of the metacarpals II to V are lost, probably having been ingested by the hyaena concerned, and there are tooth-marks on some of the metacarpals adjacent to the missing parts. There is also damage on the scapholunar and unciform, but the magnum and trapezoid, which are largely enclosed by the other bones, are intact (Fig. 28). The remains of a
. Annals of the South African Museum = Annale van die Suid-Afrikaanse Museum. Natural history. AGRIOTHER1UM FROM LANGEBAANWEG, SOUTH AFRICA 65 a hyaena, and this was done while the bones were still articulated. The phalanges, metacarpal I and distal ends of the metacarpals II to V are lost, probably having been ingested by the hyaena concerned, and there are tooth-marks on some of the metacarpals adjacent to the missing parts. There is also damage on the scapholunar and unciform, but the magnum and trapezoid, which are largely enclosed by the other bones, are intact (Fig. 28). The remains of at least six small hyaenas {Ictitherium preforfex) were recovered from LBW-E 1975/1. This species of hyaena, and perhaps others, probably scavenged the banks of the river for the remains of animals washed into the area. Hyaena-damaged bone was not uncommon in this area, another notable example being the skull of a seal with double punctate marks on the braincase. The lower canines of Ictitherium preforfex fit these punctate marks well. Another specimen from LBW-E 1975/1, the metatarsal L30205, is remark- able in having on its shaft gnaw-marks apparently made by a small rodent (Fig. 29). This type of damage is rare amongst the fossils from 'E' Fig. 29. Rodent-gnawed Agriotherium metatarsal, L30205, from Langebaanweg. Arrow indicates area of damage. Although rodent remains are generally common in the fossiliferous deposits of the Varswater Formation, this was not the case in the LBW-E 1975/1 area, where only bathyergids were represented in moderate numbers. Living bathy- ergids, which are fossorial, are known to gnaw at objects encountered in their tunnels, plastic water-pipes and telephone cables being items recently affected in this way in the south-western Cape Province. It is possible that a bathyergid tunnelling on the river bank was responsible for the damage to L30205. Three distinct types of post-mortem damage are evident on the bones and teeth of the partial skel
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