The New York Times - 08.10.2019

The Veterinarian Will See Your Tyrannosaurus Rex Now

JEFF PACHOUD/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES

Dinosaurs loom large in the human imagination, towering above the treetops,

bringing down prey and reigning over the ancient land, sea and sky. ¶ In real

life, though, things weren’t always so spectacular. A paper in Philosophical

Transactions of the Royal Society B by Les Hearn, a retired science teacher,

and Amanda Williams, a psychologist seeking evidence of chronic pain in

other species, collects the wince-inducing tales of hundreds of dinosaur inju-

ries. ¶ Paleontologists can deduce whether dinosaurs suffered wounds by an-

alyzing fossilized bones and other evidence, and have found a tyrannosaur

with its rival’s tooth embedded in its jaw, unusually spaced tracks left by an

ornithopod with a toe injury and many more prehistoric owies. ¶ The injury

reports raise a question: If a banged-up dinosaur walked into a veterinarian’s

office today, what might happen next? Ben Golas, a working veterinarian and

a Ph.D. candidate in wildlife disease ecology at Colorado State University,

considered how he would treat some damaged dinosaurs if they were brought

to his clinic, logistical issues aside (“We might have to make the doors a little

bit bigger”). ¶ The documented injuries, he said, aren’t too far off from those

he’s used to treating in other species. Let’s look at a few.

By CARA GIAIMO

D2 N THE NEW YORK TIMES, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2019

Out on a Limb

Dr. Golas considered the case of a

dilophosaurus — a theropod, or

the same dino order as T. rex —

that holds the current record for

most injuries found in one fore-

limb: eight, ranging from a frac-

tured scapula to abscesses on the

hand.

“It would be totally reasonable

to think that these injuries came

from a fight,” he said.

Such a complex set of scrapes

calls for a mix of stabilization and

antibiotics — as well as a muzzle,

often necessary when animals are

in pain and want to protect their

limbs, Dr. Golas said. If the infec-

tion kept raging, amputation

might be the best answer, after

which “we’d have to find a

dilophosaurus rescue center” for

the animal to live out its days.

P. SENTER, S. JUENGST/PLOS ONE

Poor Sue

Before Sue the T. rex became

the most complete specimen of
their species ever found, they
(the Field Museum in Chicago

applies gender-neutral pro-
nouns to its fossil) had an ad-

venturous life, resulting in

several broken bones in the

right arm, and other injuries.

“If a big dog got hit by a car,

we might see this same sort of

presentation,” Dr. Golas said.

He recommended temporar-

ily immobilizing the arm by

bandaging it against the body.

“We would need a lot of vet

wrap,” he said. And they might

need a dino-size e-collar or

“cone of shame,” he added.

“If Sue could get their head

around to lick the wound, they

would absolutely need a cone.”

SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGES

A Sudden Landslide

Brought Her Down

Another patient was an ovirap-
tor with a fracture of the ulnar

bone in her forearm. Dr. Golas
prescribed a “figure eight”

bandage to keep her forearm
still, together with “strict cage
rest.”

Although this dinosaur
wouldn’t have had bandages

available, she seems to have
managed the second part of her

treatment plan on her own:
When she died, most likely from

a landslide or other accident, she

was on nest rest, incubating a

clutch of eggs, and her fracture

was mostly healed.

MICK ELLISON/AMERICAN MUSEUM OF

NATURAL HISTORY

Not All Fun and Games

Then there’s the tyrannosaur

whose rival broke a tooth off

inside its jaw.

A bite to the face is bad enough,

but when the tooth stays in the

wound, things get even more dire.

“Teeth are basically needles that

are injecting tons of gross mouth

bacteria underneath the skin,” Dr.

Golas said.

“The embedded tooth could

quickly become an abscess that

might make eating food painful.

After removing it, we would want

to provide a soft diet until healed,”

he prescribed.

A feeding tube might also be

necessary. Both seem like humili-

ating prospects for a bone-

crunching carnivore, although

perhaps it would find a meat

smoothie perfectly delicious.

ROYAL TYRRELL MUSEUM OF PALAEONTOLOGY

Observatory

DINOSAUR INJURY EDITION