An artist’s impression of Dolly the dinosaur
Woodruff et al. (2022) and Corbin Rainbolt
The fossil record has revealed dinosaurs with broken bones, osteoarthritis, and even cancer. Now, for the first time, palaeontologists have discovered evidence of a dinosaur with a cough. This serious respiratory infection is only detectable because it left traces in the bones of the dinosaur, which eventually became fossilized. The illness would have likely caused sneezing, coughing, fever, and premature death.
MOR 7029, also known as Dolly, is a young diplodocid dinosaur from the late Jurassic period, approximately 150 million years ago. The dinosaur, measuring about 18 meters long, was found in Montana in 1990 and continues to provide new insights.
Cary Woodruff, from the Great Plains Dinosaur Museum in Malta, Montana, and his colleagues, discovered unusual protrusions in three of Dolly’s neck bones. These bony growths were located in an area that would have been connected to air sacs, believed to be part of the dinosaur’s respiratory system, similar to those found in modern birds. CT scans of the fossils revealed that these protrusions likely formed in response to an infection in those sacs.
Woodruff explains that much evidence of a dinosaur’s health is lost during the fossilization process. Therefore, the team compared the bony protrusions to those seen in modern birds and concluded that they are most likely evidence of a fungal infection similar to aspergillosis, a common respiratory illness that can prove fatal even in untreated humans.
“We cannot determine whether Dolly simply had an accident and died or if it was so sick and weak that it became a target for predators,” says Woodruff. “However, I believe that in some way, this infection ultimately caused the individual’s death.”
It is likely that Dolly, who died at around 15 years old despite similar dinosaurs being known to live twice as long, would have exhibited symptoms similar to those seen in humans with colds, flu, or pneumonia, such as sneezing, coughing, runny nose, and fever.
“I think it’s fascinating that you can hold these infected bones from Dolly in your hand and know that 150 million years ago, this dinosaur felt just as miserable when it was sick as you do when you’re sick,” Woodruff adds.
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