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Pathologic Bone Tissues in a Turkey Vulture and a Nonavian Dinosaur: Implications for Interpreting Endosteal Bone and Radial Fibrolamellar Bone in Fossil Dinosaurs
Author(s) -
Chinsamy Anusuya,
TumarkinDeratzian Allison
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the anatomical record: advances in integrative anatomy and evolutionary biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.678
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1932-8494
pISSN - 1932-8486
DOI - 10.1002/ar.20991
Subject(s) - medullary cavity , anatomy , pathology , calcification , vulture , biology , medicine , zoology
We report on similar pathological bone microstructure in an extant turkey vulture ( Cathartes aura ) and a nonavian dinosaur from Transylvania. Both these individuals exhibit distinctive periosteal reactive bone deposition accompanied by endosteal bone deposits in the medullary cavity. Our findings have direct implications on the two novel bone tissues recently described among nonavian dinosaurs, radial fibrolamellar bone tissue and medullary bone tissue. On the basis of the observed morphology of the periosteal reactive bone in the turkey vulture and the Transylvanian dinosaur, we propose that the radial fibrolamellar bone tissues observed in mature dinosaurs may have had a pathological origin. Our analysis also shows that on the basis of origin, location, and morphology, pathologically derived endosteal bone tissue can be similar to medullary bone tissues described in nonavian dinosaurs. As such, we caution the interpretation of all endosteally derived bone tissue as homologous to avian medullary bone. Anat Rec, 292:1478–1484, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.