Skin pathology in the Cretaceous: Evidence for probable failed predation in a dinosaur

Rothschild, Bruce M.; DePalma, Robert A.

doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2013.01.005

Cited by 14 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…They deduce the types of skeletal damage occurring in fossil populations, their underlying cause and by inference, aspects of related palaeoecology and behaviour (Moodie, ; Rothschild & Martin, ). Palaeopathologies are usually identified in fossil vertebrates only if they resulted in damage to the skeleton (but see, e.g., Rothschild & Depalma (), who reported traumatic skin damage in a hadrosaur) and are typically the result of a traumatic injury (e.g. fractures) involving bone modification and occasional callus development during healing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ichthyosaurian palaeopathology: evidence of injury and disease in fossil ‘fish lizards’

et al. 2017

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The documented record of ichthyosaurian paleopathologies reveals an array of injuryrelated bone modifications and instances of disease evidenced through multiple clades, skeletal regions and body-size classes from the Middle Triassic to middle Cretaceous. Examples include traumatic injuries, as well as a high incidence of articular diseases, including avascular necrosis. Forelimb pathologies are particularly abundant (65% of total reported), and the glenoid region seems to have been especially prone to articular disease. In contrast, pathologies affecting the vertebral column are comparatively underrepresented (6% of reported pathologies). Also notable is the disproportionate commonality of osteopathologies in ichthyosaurian taxa between 2 and 6 m in length (54%), as opposed to demonstrably larger (31%) or smaller bodied (15%) species. Furthermore, osteopathologies are almost exclusively described from skeletally mature individuals, and are best known from taxa of Jurassic age (78%), versus those from the Triassic (15%) or Cretaceous (7%); this likely reflects biases in the ichthyosaurian fossil record through time. Ichthyosaurs evince remarkable similarities in the types of observed skeletal damage relative to other ecologically similar marine amniotes -especially cetaceans and mosasaurid squamates, all of which potentially exhibited equivalent palaeoecological and/or behavioural adaptations for life in aqueous environments. Notably, however, the unusually low frequency of vertebral pathologies in ichthyosaurs is peculiar, and requires further investigation to establish significance.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ichthyosaurian palaeopathology: evidence of injury and disease in fossil ‘fish lizards’

et al. 2017

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“…The current range of documented dinosaurian pathologies is very wide 2 . Examples range from healed wounds from failed predator attacks 10 , intraspecific combat 11 or daily routine activity leading to accidental injury and breakage 2 , to congenital and developmental defects 12 13 14 , cases of severe bacterial or fungal infection such as osteomyelitis 12 following exogenous traumatic events, chronic diseases like osteoarthritis 15 , and neoplasms 16 17 .…”

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confidence: 99%

A dinosaurian facial deformity and the first occurrence of ameloblastoma in the fossil record

Dumbravă

Rothschild

Weishampel

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

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Despite documentation of various types of neoplastic pathologies encountered in the vertebrate fossil record, no ameloblastic tumours have been recognised so far. Ameloblastoma is a benign neoplasic tumour with a strong preponderance for the mandible. Here, we report for the first time the presence of an ameloblastoma neoplasm in the lower jaw of a specimen referred to the derived non-hadrosaurid hadrosauroid dinosaur Telmatosaurus transsylvanicus from the uppermost Cretaceous of the Haeg Basin in Romania. The location, external appearance and internal structure of the pathological outgrowth provide clear evidence for the diagnosis of ameloblastoma in Telmatosaurus. This report extends the range of pathologies encountered in hadrosauroid dinosaurs. In addition, recognition of an ameloblastoma neoplasm in a taxon lying close to the origin of ‘duck-billed’ hadrosaurid dinosaurs confirms the predisposition of this clade towards neoplasia pathologies already in its basal members.

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“…(e.g. [27,29,64,68,[95][96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103][104][105][106]). More generally, few papers combine macroscopic, radiographic and histological approaches for complete differential diagnostic (e.g.…”

Section: (D) the Importance Of Bone Histology In Assessing Palaeopathologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Case study of radial fibrolamellar bone tissues in the outer cortex of basal sauropods

Jentgen-Ceschino

Stein

Fischer

2020

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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The histology of sauropod long bones often appears uniform and conservative along their evolutionary tree. One of the main aspects of their bone histology is to exhibit a fibrolamellar complex in the cortex of their long bones. Here, we report another bone tissue, the radial fibrolamellar bone (RFB), in the outer cortex of the humeri of a young adult cf. Isanosaurus (Early to Late Jurassic, Thailand) and an adult Spinophorosaurus nigerensis (Early to Middle Jurassic, Niger) that do not exhibit any pathological feature on the bone surface. Its location within the cortex is unexpected, because RFB is a rapidly deposited bone tissue that would rather be expected early in the ontogeny. A palaeopathological survey was conducted for these sampled specimens. Observed RFB occurrences are regarded as spiculated periosteal reactive bone, which is an aggressive form of periosteal reaction. A ‘hair-on-end’ pattern of neoplasmic origin (resembling a Ewing's sarcoma) is favoured for cf. Isanosaurus , while a sunburst pattern of viral or neoplasmic origin (resembling an avian osteopetrosis or haemangioma) is favoured for Spinophorosaurus . This study highlights the importance of bone histology in assessing the frequency and nature of palaeopathologies. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Vertebrate palaeophysiology’.

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Skin pathology in the Cretaceous: Evidence for probable failed predation in a dinosaur

Cited by 14 publications

References 8 publications

Ichthyosaurian palaeopathology: evidence of injury and disease in fossil ‘fish lizards’

Ichthyosaurian palaeopathology: evidence of injury and disease in fossil ‘fish lizards’

A dinosaurian facial deformity and the first occurrence of ameloblastoma in the fossil record

Case study of radial fibrolamellar bone tissues in the outer cortex of basal sauropods

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