Dysplastic Tracheae in Eight Blue Duikers (Cephalophus monticola) from Bioko, Equatorial Guinea

Nine blue duikers (Cephalophus monticola), purchased in the Malabo bushmeat market, were necropsied. Eight of the nine animals were found to have dysplastic tracheas, characterized by lateral apposition of tracheal rings, entrapment of the trachealis muscle and annular ligaments, and bunching of the tracheal epithelium. Communications with zoologic pathologists and a thorough search of the veterinary literature have not uncovered a single case of this pathologic finding. As such, this finding may represent an evolutionary marker indicative of a bottleneck that may have occurred in the history of this species of duiker, endemic to the island of Bioko, in the Gulf of Benin.