Dysalotosaurus with Paget disease bone pathology (free pdf)

[bh480@scn.org]

From: Ben Creisler
bh480@scn.org

The September issue of Current Biology 
(http://www.cell.com/current-biology/current)has an 
article about dinosaur bone pathology. The pdf is free:

Florian Witzmann, Kerin M. Claeson, Oliver Hampe, Frank 
Wieder, André Hilger, Ingo Manke, Manuel Niederhagen, 
Bruce M. Rothschild, & Patrick Asbach (2011)
Paget disease of bone in a Jurassic dinosaur
Current Biology 21(17) R647-R648 (13 September 2011)
doi:10.1016/j.cub.2011.08.006
http://download.cell.com/current-
biology/pdf/PIIS0960982211008815.pdf?intermediate=true


Paget disease of bone  initially described by Sir James 
Paget in 1876  is a benign bone disorder well known in 
human pathology. It leads to the enlargement and 
deformity of bones due to a combination of abnormal bone 
resorption and abundant new bone formation. There is 
strong evidence that viruses are involved in the disease, 
coupled with a probable genetic component. Paget disease 
in humans most frequently involves the skull, the spine 
and parts of the pelvis. There is only limited evidence 
on Paget disease in other extant mammals, such as 
orangutans and lemurs. Paget disease has also been 
described in human bones dating back to the Neolithic. 
Here, we report Paget disease in a vertebra of the 
Jurassic dinosaur Dysalotosaurus lettowvorbecki, 
representing the oldest indirect evidence of viruses in 
the fossil record.
 
Supplement:
http://www.cell.com/current-biology/supplemental/S0960-
9822(11)00881-5

http://download.cell.com/current-biology/mmcs/journals/
0960-9822/PIIS0960982211008815.mmc1.pdf