Multiple neoplasms in a single sauropod dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Brazil

Barbosa, Fernando Henrique de Souza; Pereira, Paulo Victor Luiz Gomes da Costa; Bergqvist, Lílian Paglarelli; Rothschild, Bruce M.

doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2016.01.010

Cited by 35 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Extended evidence is related to dinosaurs, which had been dominating our planet for about 185 million years. The fossil record reveals that neoplastic incidents have been recorded in several dinosaur species of the Mesozoic Era [22,23]; most of the evidences refer to tumors observed in bones. At first, cancerous tumors were considered to be rare as, initially, their appearance was restricted to the Hadrosauridae [22].…”

Section: How Back In Time Does Neoplasia Go?-fossil Recordmentioning

confidence: 99%

The occurrence of cancer in vertebrates: a mini review

Kitsoulis

Baxevanis

Abatzopoulos

2020

J of Biol Res-Thessaloniki

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Neoplasia is a multilevel condition caused by irregularities over the genome, which can lead to a fatal result. To fully understand this phenomenon, an evolutionary challenge has risen during the last decades, away from human limits, driving the scientific quest into the wild life. The study of wild vertebrate populations in their natural habitats has shown that cancer is rather prominent. Thus, the diversity of vertebrates reported with some form of neoplasia is quite scattered through a variety of habitats. However, some species constitute exceptions by exhibiting cancer-protective features, driven by certain loci in their DNA. It is obvious that from an evolutionary standpoint, the incidence of cancer in different taxa is nowadays studied by seeking for patterns and their roots. The main purpose of the evolutionary approach is no other than to answer a fundamental question: Could cancer be ultimately regarded as another evolutionary force conducive to the formation or shaping-up of species?

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Section: How Back In Time Does Neoplasia Go?-fossil Recordmentioning

confidence: 99%

The occurrence of cancer in vertebrates: a mini review

Kitsoulis

Baxevanis

Abatzopoulos

2020

J of Biol Res-Thessaloniki

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“…Non-avian dinosaurs. Generally, diseases are distributed across all major clades of NADs 86 ; the most common diseases occur in several species 87 . Fractures and trauma are reported to be the most common pathological conditions among all NAD species 1,[88][89][90][91] .…”

Section: Differential Diagnosis Based On Phylogenetic Disease Bracketmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Neoplasm. Neoplasia is generally rare in vertebrate fossils 86,93 . The earliest record of an NAD neoplasm in form of a haemangioma is documented from an undetermined dinosaur bone fragment of the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation 95 .…”

Section: Differential Diagnosis Based On Phylogenetic Disease Bracketmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The earliest record of an NAD neoplasm in form of a haemangioma is documented from an undetermined dinosaur bone fragment of the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation 95 . Known tumours were limited to hadrosaurs, and the first non-hadrosaurian neoplastic lesions (osteoma and haemangioma) were documented only recently in a Brazilian Late Cretaceous titanosaurid 86 . While metastatic cancer was extremely rare, as shown by a study of more than 10,000 X-rayed specimens 94 , an early metastatic cancer was reported in an undetermined dinosaur bone from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Colorado 96 .…”

Section: Differential Diagnosis Based On Phylogenetic Disease Bracketmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A comprehensive diagnostic approach combining phylogenetic disease bracketing and CT imaging reveals osteomyelitis in a Tyrannosaurus rex

Hamm

Hampe

Schwarz

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Traditional palaeontological techniques of disease characterisation are limited to the analysis of osseous fossils, requiring several lines of evidence to support diagnoses. This study presents a novel stepwise concept for comprehensive diagnosis of pathologies in fossils by computed tomography imaging for morphological assessment combined with likelihood estimation based on systematic phylogenetic disease bracketing. This approach was applied to characterise pathologies of the left fibula and fused caudal vertebrae of the non-avian dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex. Initial morphological assessment narrowed the differential diagnosis to neoplasia or infection. Subsequent data review from phylogenetically closely related species at the clade level revealed neoplasia rates as low as 3.1% and 1.8%, while infectious-disease rates were 32.0% and 53.9% in extant dinosaurs (birds) and non-avian reptiles, respectively. Furthermore, the survey of literature revealed that within the phylogenetic disease bracket the oldest case of bone infection (osteomyelitis) was identified in the mandible of a 275-million-year-old captorhinid eureptile Labidosaurus. These findings demonstrate low probability of a neoplastic aetiology of the examined pathologies in the Tyrannosaurus rex and in turn, suggest that they correspond to multiple foci of osteomyelitis.

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“…Osteomyelitis has previously been observed in non-avian dinosaurs 2 , 8 , 26 , 40 and attributed to, fractures and/or other injuries 2 . Reports of bone marrow infection (e.g., osteomyelitis) is rare in dinosaurs, especially Sauropodomorpha dinosaurs 2 , 32 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Possible bite-induced abscess and osteomyelitis in Lufengosaurus (Dinosauria: sauropodomorph) from the Lower Jurassic of the Yimen Basin, China

Xing

Rothschild

Randolph-Quinney

et al. 2018

Sci Rep

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We report an osseous abnormality on a specimen of the sauropod dinosaur Lufengosaurus huenei from the Fengjiahe Formation in Yuxi Basin, China. A gross pathological defect occurs on the right third rib, which was subjected to micro-computed tomographic imaging as an aid in diagnosis. The analysis of pathological characteristics and the shape of the abnormality is incompatible with impact or healed trauma, such as a common rib fracture, and instead suggests focal penetration of the rib, possibly due to a failed predator attack. The identification of characteristics based on gross morphology and internal micro-morphology presented by the specimen, suggests an abscess with osteomyelitis as the most parsimonious explanation. Osteomyelitis is a severe infection originating in the bone marrow, usually resulting from the introduction of pyogenic (pus-producing) bacteria into the bone. Micro-tomographic imaging of the lesion suggests a degree of healing and bone remodelling following post-traumatic wound infection with evidence of sclerotic bone formation at the site of pathological focus, indicating that L. huenei survived the initial trauma. However, as osteomyelitis can express through widespread systemic effects, including a lowering of immune response and overall condition, this disease may have been a contributing factor to the eventual death of the individual.

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Multiple neoplasms in a single sauropod dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Brazil

Cited by 35 publications

References 18 publications

The occurrence of cancer in vertebrates: a mini review

The occurrence of cancer in vertebrates: a mini review

A comprehensive diagnostic approach combining phylogenetic disease bracketing and CT imaging reveals osteomyelitis in a Tyrannosaurus rex

Possible bite-induced abscess and osteomyelitis in Lufengosaurus (Dinosauria: sauropodomorph) from the Lower Jurassic of the Yimen Basin, China

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