Tuesday, 15 February 2022

An Ancient Infection?

A paper in Scientific Reports describes finding nodules on the fossilised neck bones of a giant diplodocid dinosaur (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/feb/10/respiratory-infection-found-in-dinosaur-that-lived-150m-years-ago). The fossil, formed 150m years ago, was in the Great Plains Dinosaur Museum in Montana. Diplodocid dinosaurs have respiratory systems rather like those of birds. The nodules were similar to those seen in the necks of birds with aspergillosis infections. Aspergillosis infections are caused by inhaling mould spores. The dinosaur ('Dolly') could have had a serious, life-challenging respiratory infection. Such infections are, clearly, far from being recent inventions.
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