The limitations of homology in vertebrate paleopathology

Wolff, E

doi:10.1080/08912960903471196

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…In sum, the known pathologic scenarios fall short of explaining the bone histology observed in these two specimens. The authors grant that a scenario for a pathologic etiology for which there is no modern analog [ 42 , 43 ] or a lesion for which examination of the complete skeleton would have yielded a different interpretation is always possible. However, the parsimonious argument for a biomechanical explanation (as supported by this paper) makes this possibility less likely given that the gross and histopathologic appearance of the bone does not suggest pathologic novelty.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

First Reported Cases of Biomechanically Adaptive Bone Modeling in Non-Avian Dinosaurs

et al. 2015

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Predator confrontation or predator evasion frequently produces bone fractures in potential prey in the wild. Although there are reports of healed bone injuries and pathologies in non-avian dinosaurs, no previously published instances of biomechanically adaptive bone modeling exist. Two tibiae from an ontogenetic sample of fifty specimens of the herbivorous dinosaur Maiasaura peeblesorum (Ornithopoda: Hadrosaurinae) exhibit exostoses. We show that these outgrowths are cases of biomechanically adaptive periosteal bone modeling resulting from overstrain on the tibia after a fibula fracture. Histological and biomechanical results are congruent with predictions derived from this hypothesis. Histologically, the outgrowths are constituted by radial fibrolamellar periosteal bone tissue formed at very high growth rates, as expected in a process of rapid strain equilibration response. These outgrowths show greater compactness at the periphery, where tensile and compressive biomechanical constraints are higher. Moreover, these outgrowths increase the maximum bending strength in the direction of the stresses derived from locomotion. They are located on the antero-lateral side of the tibia, as expected in a presumably bipedal one year old individual, and in the posterior position of the tibia, as expected in a presumably quadrupedal individual at least four years of age. These results reinforce myological evidence suggesting that Maiasaura underwent an ontogenetic shift from the primitive ornithischian bipedal condition when young to a derived quadrupedal posture when older.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

First Reported Cases of Biomechanically Adaptive Bone Modeling in Non-Avian Dinosaurs

et al. 2015

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“…Although birds and NARs are capable of mounting cellular and humoral immune responses, they do not have an elaborate lymphatic system such as mammals have 113 . Additionally, in contrast to mammals, both NARs and birds deposit fibrin in inflamed and infected areas, leading to the immobilisation of infectious particles 59,88,114 . This fibrin collection (fibriscess) enables the body to keep infections relatively localised, while generalised septicaemia is rarely found 59,88 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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“…We compared our morphological observations to descriptions of osteological pathologies in birds to diagnose their cause, restricting comparisons to birds and close relatives when required given that specific immune responses and resultant effects on bone can vary between animal groups (Huchzermeyer & Cooper 2000; Wolff 2009). Diagnoses are made through a hierarchy of inference and are done so under the assumption that diseases and injuries of the past are similar to those observable today (e.g.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiple occurrences of pathologies suggesting a common and severe bone infection in a population of the Australian Pleistocene giant, Genyornis newtoni (Aves, Dromornithidae)

McInerney

Arnold

Burke

et al. 2021

Papers in Palaeontology

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Vertebrate fossils showing pathological lesions are incredibly rare, and even more so is the identification of an ailment affecting multiple individuals in a population. However, the unique Lake Callabonna fossil deposit of South Australia has produced several such fossils from a single species of giant bird. Examination of the Lake Callabonna fossils of Genyornis newtoni, an extinct Pleistocene dromornithid, representing at least 34 individuals, has resulted in the identification of six osseous pathologies. These lesions are typical of the bone infection osteomyelitis, and affect a sternum, a tarsometatarsus and four phalanges across four individuals. The identification and description of osteomyelitis in these bones is the first of its kind for extinct galloanseres. Optically stimulated luminescence dating of host deposits shows that these animals were mired in lakebed sediments ranging from 54.2 to 50.4 kyr in age, probably becoming entrapped during a protracted drought phase previously identified as beginning at c. 48 ka and which would have resulted in the lakebed becoming exposed. Additional pathologies are recognized in phalanges of two other dromornithids, Dromornis stirtoni and Ilbandornis woodburnei, from the Miocene Alcoota deposit of the Northern Territory that are also interpreted as drought associated. It is possible that drought‐driven stress and consequent immunosuppressive effects may have contributed to the high frequency of lesions observed in the sampled birds.

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The limitations of homology in vertebrate paleopathology

Cited by 4 publications

References 15 publications

First Reported Cases of Biomechanically Adaptive Bone Modeling in Non-Avian Dinosaurs

First Reported Cases of Biomechanically Adaptive Bone Modeling in Non-Avian Dinosaurs

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

Multiple occurrences of pathologies suggesting a common and severe bone infection in a population of the Australian Pleistocene giant, Genyornis newtoni (Aves, Dromornithidae)

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