Re: Caudipteryx suffered from osteoarthritis

[Robert Schenck <schenck.rob@gmail.com>]

How'd this get past review? The title is 'earliest recognition of
arthritis in birds'. Practically no one consider's Caud. a bird, so
that pretty well undercuts the 'significance' of the article.
And if the reviewers/editors allowed that it was a debatable issue,
then since Martin et al are in the EXTREME minority here, well
shouldn't that have come up?

On Wed, Jan 4, 2012 at 11:20 PM, Brad McFeeters
<archosauromorph2@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Has the sample size of *Caudipteryx* increased recently?  Sure, I'm aware 
> that there are multiple individuals, but "large population samples" is news 
> to me.
> Also, what is the scientific significance of claiming the oldest documented 
> case of osteoarthritis in the fossil record?  Is susceptibility to 
> osteoarthritis a derived condition in amniotes?  Is there an observed lack of 
> osteoarthritis in Triassic and Jurassic dinosaurs that is anomalous enough to 
> deserve explanation?
> ----------------------------------------
>> Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2012 19:07:50 -0800
>> From: bscreisler@yahoo.com
>> To: dinosaur@usc.edu
>> Subject: Caudipteryx suffered from osteoarthritis
>>
>> From: Ben Creisler
>> bscreisler@yahoo.com
>>
>>
>> A new online article (classifies Caudipteryx as a bird, however):
>>  Bruce M. Rothschild, Zheng Xiaoting & Larry D. Martin (2012)
>> Osteoarthritis in the early avian radiation: Earliest recognition of the 
>> disease in birds.
>> Cretaceous Research (advance online publication)
>> doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2011.12.008
>> http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667111002084
>>
>> Abstract
>> Osteoarthritis is extremely rare in wild mammal populations (less than 1%) 
>> and varies in frequency according to species (0--25%) in recent birds, where 
>> it is inversely related to size. Large population samples of Early 
>> Cretaceous birds in China permit us to analyze its frequency in one of the 
>> earliest avian radiations. In these samples, the larger bird (Caudipteryx) 
>> shows a high frequency (30%). The earliest previous documentation of primary 
>> osteoarthritis in any animal is in a family of Early Cretaceous dinosaurs 
>> (Iguanodontidae). We document its occurrence in a basal bird and in one of 
>> the forms considered by some to be a feathered dinosaur. These occurrences 
>> are 20 million years older than the next oldest occurrence of osteoarthritis.
>



-- 
Robert J. Schenck
Kingsborough Community College
Physical Sciences Department
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