Cough, fever, headache… The dinosaurs also suffered from respiratory infections similar to those that strike birds today. This is revealed by the study of the fossils of a specimen 150 million years old, the conclusions of which were published in the journal Scientific Reports, Thursday, February 10. This first tangible proof of an infectious pathology in non-avian dinosaurs, which disappeared 65 million years ago, makes it possible to reconstruct a past that remains mysterious, as the fossil record is so old.
The animal studied, a large herbivorous sauropod with a long neck answering the scientific name of “MOR 7029” – nicknamed Dolly – lived at the end of the Jurassic, more than 145 million years ago. According to these works, he suffered from an ailment with the characteristics “very, very similar“Aspergillosis, a fungal respiratory infection (micro-fungi), today very widespread in birds, explained to AFP the paleontologist Cary Woodruff, main author of the study. “From an evolutionary perspective, [cette maladie] must come from somewhere, he pointed out, recalling that birds are descended from dinosaurs.
Aspergillosis causes flu-like symptoms and can be fatal if left untreated. “Dolly must have felt very bad. It may have killed her, or weakened her, making her easy prey for her predators” like the fearsome T-rex, imagine Cary Woodruff.
The fossilized remains of Dolly were discovered in 1990 in Montana, USA. Examining the bones of his neck, the paleontologist identified bony protrusions of unusual shape and texture. “It was really weird, I had never seen that in any dinosaur,” explained this sauropod specialist. “I shared the information with my scientific colleagues, vets, doctors, who said to me: ‘This is incredible, it looks like a respiratory infection!‘” said this researcher at the Royal Ontario Museum at the University of Toronto.
What put them on the track? The abnormal protrusions were located near the bottom of the animal’s neck, right at the intersection of the air sacs, air-filled sacs connected to the lungs – a feature of the respiratory systems unique to dinosaurs and birds. CT imaging then scanned inside the bones, confirming an abnormality that most likely formed secondary, in response to an air sac infection.