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

C A Hamm; O Hampe; D Schwarz; F Witzmann; P J Makovicky; C A Brochu; R Reiter; P Asbach

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-75731-0

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

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

C A Hamm, O Hampe, D Schwarz, F Witzmann, P J Makovicky, C A Brochu, R Reiter and P Asbach

Scientific reports, Vol.10(1), pp.18897-18897

11/03/2020

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-75731-0

PMCID: PMC7642268

PMID: 33144637

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Abstract

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.

Animals

Dinosaurs - classification

Fibula - diagnostic imaging

Fibula - pathology

Fossils - anatomy & histology

Fossils - diagnostic imaging

Likelihood Functions

Mandible - diagnostic imaging

Mandible - pathology

Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging

Neoplasms - epidemiology

Neoplasms - veterinary

Osteomyelitis - diagnostic imaging

Osteomyelitis - etiology

Osteomyelitis - veterinary

Phylogeny

Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Details

Title: Subtitle: A comprehensive diagnostic approach combining phylogenetic disease bracketing and CT imaging reveals osteomyelitis in a Tyrannosaurus rex
Creators: C A Hamm - Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
O Hampe - Museum für Naturkunde
D Schwarz - Museum für Naturkunde
F Witzmann - Museum für Naturkunde
P J Makovicky - University of Minnesota
C A Brochu - University of Iowa
R Reiter - Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
P Asbach - Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Scientific reports, Vol.10(1), pp.18897-18897
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-75731-0
PMID: 33144637
PMCID: PMC7642268
NLM abbreviation: Sci Rep
ISSN: 2045-2322
eISSN: 2045-2322
Grant note: name: Projekt DEAL
Language: English
Date published: 11/03/2020
Academic Unit: Earth and Environmental Sciences; University College Courses
Record Identifier: 9984229175302771

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