UCT scientists discover bone infection in prehistoric femur
Researchers at the University of Cape Town’s department of biological sciences have discovered an unusual bone tissue pattern that could have been caused by a degenerative bone disease in the femur of an therapsid, a mammal-like reptile that flourished more than 200-million years ago.Therapsids are thought to have been the precursors of mammals. The bone disease, osteomyelitis is caused by a bacterial infection that eats away bone. It is common in modern mammals and reptiles as well as in their earliest prehistoric ancestors, which predated the dinosaurs. Department of biological science researcher Christen Shelton, an author of the paper published in the International Journal of Paleobiology said: "While analysing thin sections of the femur under a microscope, I noticed that the bone tissue did not follow the normal growth pattern as that observed in other specimens." The earliest occurrence of this disease was discovered in the backbone of the iconic dorsal sailed pelycosaur. This...
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