Was it the deer or the fox?

Herbivores, as taphonomic agents, can modify and consume bones and antlers for no nutritive purpose. This unusual behavior is due to a nutritional dysfunction (osteophagia) that allows them to supplement a lack of minerals in their diet through ingestion of minerals contained in bones. When chewing, herbivores change skeletal element morphology and produce a characteristic forked shape. At an incipient stage of modification, herbivore chewing may mimic that of carnivores. In this paper, we provide diagnostic criteria to distinguish bone modification made by herbivores from that produced by other taphonomic agents, mainly carnivores.

► Herbivores eat bones in order to supplement the lack of minerals in their diet. ► Herbivores produce several modifications on bone surface during consumption. ► These modifications are similar to some of the alterations caused by carnivores. ► Diagnostic criteria for distinguishing herbivore damage from carnivore damage are related.