[dinosaur] Jurassic marine reptile palaeoepidemiology (free pdf)

Ben Creisler
[email protected]


A new paper in open access

Judith M. Pardo-Pérez, Benjamin Kear  and Erin E. Maxwell (2019)
Palaeoepidemiology in extinct vertebrate populations: factors influencing
skeletal health in Jurassic marine reptiles.
Royal Society Open Science 6: 190264
doi: https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__doi.org_10.1098_rsos.190264&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=EoiSnul_8xIGwXeliL61lWYZcjh3_4TAyP5IWxg3LYE&s=wgKN9UZ0RB-G830MDy05ePgpX9Ew0YKrmIrqiDJRlXI&e= 
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Free pdf:
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Palaeoepidemiological studies related to palaeoecology are rare, but have
the potential to provide information regarding ecosystem-level
characteristics by measuring individual health. In order to assess factors
underlying the prevalence of pathologies in large marine vertebrates, we
surveyed ichthyosaurs (Mesozoic marine reptiles) from the
Posidonienschiefer Formation (Early Jurassic: Toarcian) of southwestern
Germany. This Formation provides a relatively large sample from a
geologically and geographically restricted interval, making it ideal for
generating baseline data for a palaeoepidemiological survey. We examined
the influence of taxon, anatomical region, body size, ontogeny and
environmental change, as represented by the early Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic
Event, on the prevalence of pathologies, based on a priori ideas of factors
influencing population skeletal health. Our results show that the incidence
of pathologies is dependent on taxon, with the small-bodied genus
Stenopterygius exhibiting fewer skeletal pathologies than other genera.
Within Stenopterygius, we detected more pathologies in large adults than in
smaller size classes. Stratigraphic horizon, a proxy for
palaeoenvironmental change, did not influence the incidence of pathologies
in Stenopterygius. The quantification of the occurrence of pathologies
within taxa and across guilds is critical to constructing more detailed
hypotheses regarding changes in the prevalence of skeletal injury and
disease through Earth history.


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