Re: On "SICK DINOSAURS" (RESEARCH UPDATE)

[joe <jdaniel@aristotle.net>]

Darren Tanke wrote:

>  common. Often the tip, tip and side, or tip and both sides of the tooth
> crown were snapped off while feeding or fighting. Sometimes the tooth is
> snapped off right to the base. Many of these broken teeth were retained in
> the jaws and show post-trauma wear facets, indicating even though they were
> broken, they were retained in the mouth for an extended period. Some teeth

How do you tell the difference between teeth that were broken after death, 
either by
scavengers or nonbiotic processes, and ones that were broken while the animal 
was
still active? How do you tell a post trauma wear facet from wear on the tooth 
after
it was loose?

>  Hadrosaurs show
> much evidence for bone trauma. I have seen some very serious ones, such as
> jaw fractures or massive pelvic fractures. It is indeed remarkable these
> animals survived such injuries, considering the total absence of veterinary
> care. Injured animals probably crawled off into the heavy vegetation and
> remained stationary.

Is it possible that some of these breaks may have been fatal rather than 
actually
healed? They were possibly buried and when the bones mineralized they were 
fused and
only appeared to have naturally healed? Just wondering if this is a possibility 
and
if so how you tell the difference between natural and nonbiotic bone fusion.

>  Tyrannosaurs suffered numerous fractures too. Fibula fractures are
> often attributed to being whacked on the lower leg by an ankylosaur tailclub
> although other interpretations, such as a twisting fall should be
> considered.

Could these interpretations be distinguished by direction of the break? I would
think that the ankylosaur tailclub would tend to create lateral breaks whereas a
twisting fall would be more likely to create longitudinal breaks in the fibula, 
or
am I offbase here?

>  g. Some sort of "bone-eating disease". Horned dinosaur frills sometimes
> show "extra" holes which completely pierce through the bone. This are
> typically ascribed to horn thrust injuries incurred during fighting.
> However, I am finding unusual bone lesions on the inside of the frill that
> erode down into the bone, often quite deeply. Given time these lesions could
> erode and expand forming classic "horn thrust injuries". Unfortunately there
> is no comparable disease today that I am aware of.

Have you looked at possible diseases in turtles? I don't know of any but there 
might
be some correlative pathologies.

Great post by the way. Full of info and resources. Wonderful stuff.

Joe Daniel