| Summary: | The analysis of the fossil and sub-fossil bones of wild Bos primigenius Bojanus, 1827 and domestic cattle Bos taurus Linnaeus, 1758 has been handicapped by the absence of modern comparative material. The feral cattle of Amsterdam Island have lived in the wild since 1871 and have been free from artifical selection since that period. Authors give a complete description of metapodial bones of this population in order to offer archeologists a modern comparative material with patterns of sexual dimorphism and extent of intra- and inter-individual variability. This work is based on the measurements of 90 sets of 4 metapodials belonging to 48 adult females and 42 adult males. The analysis of the fossil and sub-fossil bones of wild Bos primigenius Bojanus, 1827 and domestic cattle Bos taurus Linnaeus, 1758 has been handicapped by the absence of modern comparative material. The feral cattle of Amsterdam Island have lived in the wild since 1871 and have been free from artifical selection since that period. Authors give a complete description of metapodial bones of this population in order to offer archeologists a modern comparative material with patterns of sexual dimorphism and extent of intra- and inter-individual variability. This work is based on the measurements of 90 sets of 4 metapodials belonging to 48 adult females and 42 adult males.
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