Age-related diseases of dinosaurs

Senile dinosaurs are very rare in fossil record. The study is focused on the biggest specimen of Gobihadros mongoliensis. On the phalanx and vertebrae we identified deposits of calcium pirophoshpate (CPPD), for the first time in dinosaurs. Such pathologies are very rare in young animals; in people, CPPD appears mostly after the 55th year of life. The presence of CPPD, its primary (non-traumatic) character, the size of the animal, and characters of the long bones indicate an advanced age of the studied specimen. The fossils allowed revision of the features indicating senescense in dinosaurs.