BackgroundThe evidence of several forms of arthritis has been well documented in the fossil record. However, for pre-Cenozoic vertebrates, especially regarding reptiles, this record is rather scarce. In this work we present a case report of spondarthritis found in a vertebral series that belonged to a carnivorous archosaurian reptile from the Lower Triassic (∼245 million years old) of the South African Karoo.Methodology/Principal FindingsNeutron tomography confirmed macroscopic data, revealing the ossification of the entire intervertebral disc space (both annulus fibrosus and nucleus pulposus), which supports the diagnosis of spondarthritis.Conclusions/SignificanceThe presence of spondarthritis in the new specimen represents by far the earliest evidence of any form of arthritis in the fossil record. The present find is nearly 100 million years older than the previous oldest report of this pathology, based on a Late Jurassic dinosaur. Spondarthritis may have indirectly contributed to the death of the animal under study.
A set of lesions are re-described and new pathological findings in foot bones of Panochthus sp. (Xenarthra, Cingulata) are presented. The material reexamined in fact presents enthesiophytes instead of osteoartrithis, as previously interpreted. Furthermore, Calcium Pyrophosphate Deposition Disease (CPPD) was observed, a lesion absent in previous report. CPPD also was found in another set of foot bones and it was associated with a congenital fusion of two sesamoids. The material studied were collected in two natural tank deposits, one in Paraíba (material reexamined) and other in Rio Grande do Norte (new pathological findings) State.
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