Hard life.

As we collect fossils we sometimes forget that they are the remains of animals that probably survived a lot of hard times before they finally died. We sometimes get a glimpse into what they had to endure, in the way of predators and environment, through examining the damage to their bones. The most obvious signs of predation is by the marks, and punctures, left behind by teeth. Another sign is of healed injuries. Not all attacks by predators are lethal. And not all broken bones are from predators. Sometimes bones are broken through natural means. Falling from trees, stumbling in a burrow, fighting for mates, etc., are just some ways that bones can be broken. During a Pleistocene dig in Florida I came across the tibia from a deer. The remarkable thing about it was that it had been broken, and then healed. the two halves of the bone had fused back together almost an inch shorter than it was originally. This must have taken several months to complete. And it obviously affected the way it walked. But mother nature had pulled it through a bad period in it's life.