First evidence known of a respiratory infection in a dinosaur

Alphadino65

Here's the link to the article:  https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2022-02-11/dolly-diplodocid-dinosaur-pneumonia-disease-respiratory-illness/100817258

It was found in a diplodocid specimen that paleontologists nicknamed Dolly.

I am not surprised by the finding, because disease has been speculated in dinosaurs before (I recall in 2011's March of the Dinosaurs, an old male Edmontosaurus was supposed to have a brain tumour).

What does surprise me is that it took so long to release this information to the public.  It's a trend that I noticed when learning about new dinosaur discoveries; I recall Ibrahim's first discovery of Spinosaurus specimens were in 2008, but his famous study came out 6 years later.  The first Dakotaraptor remains were discovered in 2005 and only got formally described 10 years later a few months after Jurassic World comes out. Woodruff (the paleontologist featured in the article) started examining the diplodocid specimen the same year Ibrahim's first Spinosaurus study made headlines, and here we are 8 years later finally learning this.

It always amazes me how long the process of learning about fossils and publishing the findings takes.  It makes me appreciate how much effort paleontologists (and other scientists) put into getting as much accurate information as possible before they can formally say they know something about it.

SasquaDash

Poor Dolly :(

Djdndnejwnwn

That’s super interesting. I wonder how these infections differed from today