Tuberculosis-like respiratory infection in 245-million-year-old marine reptile suggested by bone pathologies

Surmik, Dawid; Szczygielski, Tomasz; Janiszewska, Katarzyna; Rothschild, Bruce M.

doi:10.1098/rsos.180225

Cited by 15 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…[27,43,44]), have been generally anecdotal in nature, reporting only the description of a specific pathology in one or two specimens (e.g. [45]) or suite of pathologies in a single specimen (e.g. [46]).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Palaeoepidemiology in extinct vertebrate populations: factors influencing skeletal health in Jurassic marine reptiles

2019

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Palaeoepidemiological studies related to palaeoecology are rare, but have the potential to provide information regarding ecosystem-level characteristics by measuring individual health. In order to assess factors underlying the prevalence of pathologies in large marine vertebrates, we surveyed ichthyosaurs (Mesozoic marine reptiles) from the Posidonienschiefer Formation (Early Jurassic: Toarcian) of southwestern Germany. This Formation provides a relatively large sample from a geologically and geographically restricted interval, making it ideal for generating baseline data for a palaeoepidemiological survey. We examined the influence of taxon, anatomical region, body size, ontogeny and environmental change, as represented by the early Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event, on the prevalence of pathologies, based on a priori ideas of factors influencing population skeletal health. Our results show that the incidence of pathologies is dependent on taxon, with the small-bodied genus Stenopterygius exhibiting fewer skeletal pathologies than other genera. Within Stenopterygius , we detected more pathologies in large adults than in smaller size classes. Stratigraphic horizon, a proxy for palaeoenvironmental change, did not influence the incidence of pathologies in Stenopterygius . The quantification of the occurrence of pathologies within taxa and across guilds is critical to constructing more detailed hypotheses regarding changes in the prevalence of skeletal injury and disease through Earth history.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Palaeoepidemiology in extinct vertebrate populations: factors influencing skeletal health in Jurassic marine reptiles

2019

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“…Identification can be especially problematic when a lesion lacks features consistent with a single disorder, or conversely, expresses features that are present in several conditions. The lack of precise identification means that several of these lesions can only tentatively be identified as “-like” (such as the “tuberculosis-like” bony pathologies reported in Surmik et al 38 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Today, respiratory diseases of archosaurs include inflammatory, infectious (bacterial, viral, fungal, mycobacterial, parasitic), and neoplastic etiologies 36 , 37 . A mycobacterial-like infection in a 245-million-year-old marine reptile 38 is the oldest described. This specimen exhibits parosteal proliferation on dorsal ribs with histology that reveals tissue changes similar to modern cases of mycobacterial pulmonary infection.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The first occurrence of an avian-style respiratory infection in a non-avian dinosaur

Woodruff

Wolff

Wedel

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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Other than repaired fractures, osteoarthritis, and periosteal reaction, the vertebrate fossil record has limited evidence of non-osseous diseases. This difficulty in paleontological diagnoses stems from (1) the inability to conduct medical testing, (2) soft-tissue pathologic structures are less likely to be preserved, and (3) many osseous lesions are not diagnostically specific. However, here reported for the first time is an avian-style respiratory disorder in a non-avian dinosaur. This sauropod presents irregular bony pathologic structures stemming from the pneumatic features in the cervical vertebrae. As sauropods show well-understood osteological correlates indicating that respiratory tissues were incorporated into the post-cranial skeleton, and thus likely had an ‘avian-style’ form of respiration, it is most parsimonious to identify these pathologic structures as stemming from a respiratory infection. Although several extant avian infections produce comparable symptoms, the most parsimonious is airsacculitis with associated osteomyelitis. From actinobacterial to fungal in origin, airsacculitis is an extremely prevalent respiratory disorder in birds today. While we cannot pinpoint the specific infectious agent that caused the airsacculitis, this diagnosis establishes the first fossil record of this disease. Additionally, it allows us increased insight into the medical disorders of dinosaurs from a phylogenetic perspective and understanding what maladies plagued the “fearfully great lizards”.

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“…Surmik et al (): Figs. 2 and 3) thin sectioned the proximal part of a pachyostotic dorsal rib from the Anisian of Poland that probably belongs to a pistosauroid.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A correlation of the development of the spongiosa in the medullary region with size as Canoville et al (2016) found was not documented for Triassic Sauropterygia. Surmik et al (2018): Figs. 2 and 3) thin sectioned the proximal part of a pachyostotic dorsal rib from the Anisian of Poland that probably belongs to a pistosauroid.…”

Section: Comparison With Other Tetrapod Vertebrae and Ribsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microstructure of Vertebrae, Ribs, and Gastralia of Triassic Sauropterygians—New Insights into the Microanatomical Processes Involved in Aquatic Adaptations of Marine Reptiles

Klein

Canoville

Houssaye³

2019

The Anatomical Record

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Isolated ribs and vertebrae of Middle Triassic sauropterygians are studied. The vertebrae have a well‐defined large cavity in their centra, which is a unique feature and is without any modern analogue. The articular facets of vertebrae are made of endochondral bone including calcified as well as uncalcified cartilage. Vertebrae are pachyosteosclerotic in the pachypleurosaurs Neusticosaurus and Serpianosaurus from the Alpine Triassic, and osteosclerotic in the placodont, in the medium‐sized Nothosaurus marchicus, and in the pachypleurosaur Anarosaurus. In large Nothosaurus specimens, the vertebrae are cavernous. The ribs of all sampled specimens are osteosclerotic, which resembles the microanatomy of long bones in all studied taxa. The proximal to medial part of ribs mainly consists of a compact periosteal cortex surrounding an inner endosteal territory. Toward the distal end of the ribs, the periosteal thickness decreases whereas the endosteal territory increases. Despite a shift from periosteal versus endosteal tissues, global rib compactness remains relatively constant. Osteosclerosis in ribs and vertebrae is reached by the same processes as in the long bones: by a relative increase in cortex thickness that is coupled by a reduction of the medullary cavity, by the persistence of calcified cartilage, and by an inhibition of remodeling although some resorption may occur but without complete redeposition of bone. Processes differ from those observed in Permian marine reptiles and some mosasaurines, where either extensive remodeling or inhibition of bone resorption leads to osteosclerosis. Besides differences regarding the microanatomy, all studied bones of a taxon are consistent in their bone tissue type. Anat Rec, 302:1770–1791, 2019. © 2019 American Association for Anatomy

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Tuberculosis-like respiratory infection in 245-million-year-old marine reptile suggested by bone pathologies

Cited by 15 publications

References 60 publications

Palaeoepidemiology in extinct vertebrate populations: factors influencing skeletal health in Jurassic marine reptiles

Palaeoepidemiology in extinct vertebrate populations: factors influencing skeletal health in Jurassic marine reptiles

The first occurrence of an avian-style respiratory infection in a non-avian dinosaur

Microstructure of Vertebrae, Ribs, and Gastralia of Triassic Sauropterygians—New Insights into the Microanatomical Processes Involved in Aquatic Adaptations of Marine Reptiles

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