Ceratopian pathology

[Rob Meyerson <Robert.J.Meyerson@uwrf.edu>]

Darren Tanke writes;

>On Jan 27th, Steve Cole had posted a request for information on a
>"ceratopsian tail club". This is probably in reference to our discovery of
>3-4 fused and swollen caudal vertebrae in a ceratopsian we collected last
>fall. There is no tail club- the fusion and swelling occurs in the middle of
>the tail only. 

OOC, is this fusion due to an injury of some kind (i.e.  tail smashed by an 
adult when the specimen was young), or is it a bad case of arthritis?

Rob Meyerson
Orphan Vertebrate Paleontologist
***
"May God stand between you and harm in all the empty places you must walk."
        -Susan Ivanova