Dinosaur senescence: a hadrosauroid with age-related diseases brings a new perspective of "old" dinosaurs

Sci Rep. 2021 Jun 11;11(1):11947. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-91366-1.

Abstract

Senile vertebrates are extremely rare in the fossil record, making their recognition difficult. Here we present the largest known representative of the Late Cretaceous hadrosauriform Gobihadros mongoliensis showing features of cessation of growth indicating attainment of the terminal size. Moreover, this is the first non-avian dinosaur with an age-related pathology recognized as primary calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease indicating its advanced age. Because senile dinosaurs are so rare and thus "senescence" in dinosaurs is unclear, we also propose a new unified definition of a senile dinosaur: an individual which achieved the terminal size as revealed by the presence of the external fundamental system and closed transcortical channels, has completely secondary remodeled weight-bearing bones and possesses non-traumatic, non-contagious bone pathologies correlated with advanced age.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aging / pathology*
  • Animals
  • Bone and Bones / diagnostic imaging
  • Bone and Bones / pathology
  • Calcium Pyrophosphate / analysis
  • Dinosaurs / anatomy & histology
  • Dinosaurs / physiology*
  • Disease*
  • Fossils
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Paleontology

Substances

  • Calcium Pyrophosphate