Dinosaur Remains Show Arthritis Has Been Around for More than 70 Million Years
Many people with arthritis confirm it can take months -- even years -- to get an accurate diagnosis of arthritis, but for one prehistoric creature it took much longer than that. 70 million years, in fact.
In a study published last week in the Royal Society Open Science , researchers detailed what is believed to be the first diagnosis of septic arthritis found in a dinosaur, providing evidence that animals of all kinds have been dealing with arthritis for millions of years. A team of researchers from the University of Manchester, New Jersey State Museum and the University of Massachusetts led by Jennifer Anne, Ph.D., a recent doctoral student at the University of Manchester, diagnosed the 70 million-year-old Hadrosaur -- a type of dinosaur with a duck bill -- with the painful condition that often is caused by an infection or fungus. Septic arthritis also can affect birds, crocodiles and humans.
The researchers had just two of the Hadrosaur’s bones, the radius and the ulna, but they offered enough evidence of septic arthritis to make the diagnosis. The septic arthritis would have affected the elbow joint, perhaps even fusing it, which researchers believe would have made it difficult for the dinosaur to walk or use the affected arm at all.
The fossils were discovered several years ago in a New Jersey quarry; however scientists didn’t have the appropriate tools to study the extremely fragile fossils. They remained in the New Jersey State Museum until recently when Anne and her colleagues were granted access to a micro-CT scanner, which can take high resolution images of bones that have fossilized.
Learn more .
In a study published last week in the Royal Society Open Science , researchers detailed what is believed to be the first diagnosis of septic arthritis found in a dinosaur, providing evidence that animals of all kinds have been dealing with arthritis for millions of years. A team of researchers from the University of Manchester, New Jersey State Museum and the University of Massachusetts led by Jennifer Anne, Ph.D., a recent doctoral student at the University of Manchester, diagnosed the 70 million-year-old Hadrosaur -- a type of dinosaur with a duck bill -- with the painful condition that often is caused by an infection or fungus. Septic arthritis also can affect birds, crocodiles and humans.
The researchers had just two of the Hadrosaur’s bones, the radius and the ulna, but they offered enough evidence of septic arthritis to make the diagnosis. The septic arthritis would have affected the elbow joint, perhaps even fusing it, which researchers believe would have made it difficult for the dinosaur to walk or use the affected arm at all.
The fossils were discovered several years ago in a New Jersey quarry; however scientists didn’t have the appropriate tools to study the extremely fragile fossils. They remained in the New Jersey State Museum until recently when Anne and her colleagues were granted access to a micro-CT scanner, which can take high resolution images of bones that have fossilized.
Learn more .
