Duck-billed dinosaur had arthritis 70 million years ago

Scientists have discovered evidence of arthiritis in the fossilised elbow of a 70-million-year-old duck-billed dinosaur, suggesting the condition is not a modern malady.

The finding is the oldest recorded case of septic arthritis - a condition in which a joint becomes inflamed, often from bacteria or fungus, researchers said.

"Our (duck-billed dinosaur) seems to have been afflicted with septic arthritis, which completely destroyed the elbow joint," said study lead researcher Jennifer Anne, a doctoral graduate from the University of Manchester in the UK.
"There are signs of both bone destruction and excess bone growth that resulted in possible fusion of the elbow," said Anne.

David Paris, a curator at the New Jersey State Museum, found the fossilised specimen in New Jersey in the US a number of years ago.

Anne and her colleagues studied the fossil using a micro computed tomography (micro-CT) scanner, 'Live Science' reported.

A micro-CT scanner uses X-rays that are more powerful than those used in CT scanners found in hospitals, providing higher-resolution images, Anne said.

The detailed micro-CT images helped the researchers diagnose the duck-billed dinosaur (or hadrosaur) with a bad case of septic arthritis.
The condition likely gave the dinosaur a limp, and could have "possibly been severe enough for the animal to not use that arm at all," Anne added.

The study was published in the journal Royal Society Open Science.