Researchers Say Dinosaurs Suffered From Arthritis, Too!

First Posted: Aug 05, 2016 06:58 AM EDT
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A dinosaur arthritis is believed to have injured a dinosaur named New Jersey that once roamed a country about 70 million years ago. A crippling form of arthritis is suggested to have afflicted the dinosaur's forearms according to a study conducted by scientists.

One of the researchers came to a conclusion that a dinosaur arthritis caused the animal to walk with a limp with a partially bent arm with little or no elbow movement. The dinosaur's two forearms, the radius and ulna, were analyzed with the help of Harvard University's micro CT-scanning facilities. They were able to find out that the bones had cauliflower-like growth on them. This may have resulted to a good deal of pain, The Royal Society reported.

Both dinosaur bones were collected from the Navesink Formation that stretches from Monmouth to Salem counties according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It is noted that the fossils examined were extremely fragile and could disintegrate into dust once touched. That could largely be due to the fact that a part of New Jersey was beneath the ocean 70 million years ago.

The hadrosaur, a herbivore dinosaur, is estimated to have been about 25 feet long and 10 feet tall. It is believed to have weighed between seven and eight tons according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. The dinosaur is suggested to have fed on twigs and leaves in forests and swamps along the coast.

Likely a duck-billed dinosaur, hadrosaur has been New Jersey's state dinosaur since 1991. It is the first known dinosaur to have suffered from dinosaur arthritis, LA Times reported. The condition is known as septic arthritis which could also occur in humans, birds and crocodiles. The dinosaur arthritis has not been previously noted in other dinosaurs. However, another bone disorder called osteomyelitis has been identified in all dinosaurian groups including other hadrosaurs.

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