News Paleontology

Fossils reveal what may be the oldest known case of the dino sniffles

A respiratory infection led to bone lesions in a 150-million-year-old sauropod’s vertebrae, a study suggests

illustration of sauropod dinosaurs

A chronic respiratory infection may have led to bone lesions in the fossils of 150-million-year-old sauropod dinosaur (illustrated).

D.C. Woodruff et al/Scientific Reports 2022, © Corbin Rainbolt

By Sid Perkins

- More than 2 years ago

The prehistoric world wasn’t a paradise free of disease, but diagnosing ancient ailments is tricky: Germs usually don’t fossilize well.