Vertebral lesions in a titanosaurian dinosaur from the Lower-Upper Cretaceous of Brazil - 17/09/18

Doi : 10.1016/j.geobios.2018.08.002

Fernando Henrique de Sousa Barbosa ^a,^⁎ , Isadora da Costa Ribeiro ^b, Paulo Victor Luiz Gomes da Costa Pereira ^b, Lilian Paglarelli Bergqvist ^c
^a Programa de Pós-graduação em Análise de Bacias e Faixas Móveis, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), Faculdade de Geologia, Rua São Francisco Xavier, 524, sala 2032A, 20550013, Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro Brazil
^b Programa de Pós-graduação em Geologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Departamento de Geologia, Laboratório de Macrofósseis, Av. Athos da Silva Ramos, 274, 2194191, Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
^c Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Departamento de Geologia, Laboratório de Macrofósseis, Av. Athos da Silva Ramos, 274, 21941916, Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

^⁎Corresponding author.

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Abstract

In this paper we describe macroscopically two types of bone lesions on a caudal vertebra of an indeterminate titanosaur recovered from the Lower-Upper Cretaceous (Albian-Cenomanian) Açu Formation in the Potiguar Basin, Brazil. The first type of lesion corresponds to cystic lesions on cranial and caudal joint surfaces of the vertebral body, which are identified as subchondral cysts. The second type of lesion corresponds to an irregular bone overgrowth located on longitudinal ligament insertion points. This ossification can be associated with an axial spondyloarthropathy or diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH). Bone overgrowth on vertebrae is well documented in the dinosaur fossil record, whereas this is only the second case recorded of subchondral cysts.

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Keywords : Titanosauria, Cretaceous, Vertebra, Subchondral cyst, Spondyloarthropathy, Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis, Vertebral ossification