A dinosaur with the sniffles? It's not so far-fetched. Paleontologists have previously found evidence of cancer and infections from injuries in dino fossils. But this discovery came in a roundabout way.
In 1990, the skull and vertebrae of a long-necked diplodocid, later named Dolly, was unearthed in Montana. A 2018 study of the vertebrae found some growths that resembled broccoli. Paleontologist Cary Woodruff had never seen such growths. He reached out to other scientists (via Twitter), and heard back from avian and reptile experts who recognized the signs of a condition called airsacculitis that is found in modern birds and reptiles. That happens when an infected air sac is close to the vertebrae, and the bacteria or fungus that caused a respiratory infection migrates to the bone. Dolly must have been sick for some time.
Read what we know about the condition, and how Dolly may have been infected, at Smithsonian.
(Top image credit: Elekes Andor)
#dinosaur #infection #fossil #respiratoryillness #paleodiagnosis
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