A team of paleontologists from the Great Plains Dinosaur Museum in Malta has documented a possible respiratory infection in a dinosaur for the first time.
The case, narrated in an article published in Scientific Reports magazinedocuments bone abnormalities in the fossil of a diplodocid (a dinosaur similar to the famous brontosaurus) unearthed in Montana, which they called Dolly and which, according to specialists, may have died from a respiratory infection with symptoms similar to those of a flu or a pneumonia.
Specifically, the experts detected protuberances in three cervical vertebrae that would have formed air sacs. This would have been the consequence of a respiratory infection possibly caused by fungi and that would have had symptoms similar to aspergillosis, a common disease that affects birds and reptiles today and that causes bone infections.
NEW PAPER DAY! After A LONG TIME in the works, I want to share with you all the VERY 1ST CASE of an avian-style RESPIRATORY INFECTION in a non-avian DINOSAUR! You heard me right readers – AND IT’S IN A #SAUROPOD!
(Ewan Wolff, Matt Wedel, Sophie Dennison, & @WitmerLab) pic.twitter.com/bfKuWZs1Uf
— Cary Woodruff (@DoubleBeam) February 10, 2022
Cary Woodruff, one of the paleontologists involved in the investigation, pointed out that aspergillosis is a life-threatening disease, with symptoms similar to those of the flu or pneumonia, and that it could well have been the cause of Dolly’s death.
“We have all experienced the symptoms Dolly suffered from,” she said. “She must have developed a cough, shortness of breath, fever and other ailments, so she must have felt just as miserable as we did when we got sick,” she added.
The research is relevant as it is the first scientific evidence of a possible respiratory infection in a reptile that lived 150 million years ago.
In addition, the case provides information on the evolutionary history of respiratory diseases.
Publisher Recommendations
es.digitaltrends.com