Dinosaur Potentially Died from Fatal Cough due to a Respiratory Infection

A fatal cough due to an avian-style respiratory disease was discovered by paleontologists to be responsible for killing a dinosaur called, MOR 7029 or Dolly.

The paleontologists discovered the dinosaur through a fossil specimen dating back to the late Jurassic period around 150 million years ago.

In the past, paleontologists have already unearthed fossil records showing dinosaurs with broken bones, suggesting they incurred osteoarthritis and even cancer.

However, the discovery of the fatal cough on Dolly the dinosaur is the first instance of respiratory disease found in a non-avian dinosaur.

Dolly the Dinosaur

In a new study published in the Scientific Reports on Feb. 10, paleontologists hypothesized that Dolly the dinosaur experienced an avian-style respiratory disease.

They believe the dinosaur suffered from coughing, fever, sneezing, and ultimately, premature death.

Paleontologists classified Dolly as a young diplodocid, a large and long-necked herbivorous animal with a length of 18 meters.

The study showed that the fossil specimen of the dinosaur contains bones and teeth or permineralized osseous tissues.

Other paleontologists first excavated the fossil of Dolly in the Lower O'Hair Quarry in the southwestern US state of Montana in 1990.

During this time, they were only able to collect a complete skull of the dinosaur.

However, the site reopened from 2013 to 2015 and paved the way for additional postcranial material from the dinosaur.

How the Paleontologists Found it

The study used certain examination techniques to determine the respiratory infection of a fatal cough from Dolly the dinosaur through microscopic observation of its air sac.

Traces of the respiratory infection were found by the scientists in the dinosaur's neck bones.

The authors of the new study, Cary Woodruff of the Great Plains Dinosaur Museum in Malta, Montana, and his colleagues reportedly found swellings in three of the dinosaur's neck bones.

These swellings were first thought to be part of the dinosaur's respiratory system, as per New Scientist.

Furthermore, CT scans revealed the swellings likely formed as a response to a respiratory infection of a fatal cough in the dinosaur's air sacs.

Woodruff stated that the fatal cough probably came from a fungal infection similar to aspergillosis, a potentially fatal respiratory infection that still exists today.

Aspergillosis is a respiratory infection caused by the fungi, Aspergillus, a common mold type of fungus that can be contracted indoors and outdoors, as per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Contraction of aspergillus is common but it becomes deadly if an organism has weak immune systems.

Previous Related Disease Found from Dinosaurs

Paleontologists before have discovered dinosaurs who lived in pain and died from arthritis and cancer.

In the case of arthritis, scientists believed that hadrosaur or duck-billed dinosaurs suffered from pain due to broken bones before dying, as per the Smithsonian Magazine.

In addition, scientists discovered the plant-eating and single-horned dinosaur, Centrosaurus, incurred a malignant bone cancer.

The discovery was published in the journal The Lancet Oncology by scientists from the Royal Ontario Museum and McMaster University.