Fused mid-caudal vertebrae in the titanosaur Uberabatitan ribeiroi (Dinosauria) from the Late Cretaceous of Brazil and other bone lesions

AGUSTIN MARTINELLI; VICENTE TEIXEIRA; THIAGO MARINHO; PEDRO MORAIS FONSECA; CAMILA LOURENCINI CAVELLANI; ADAUTO ARAUJO; MARA FERRAZ

LETHAIA

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2015 vol. 48 p. 456 - 462

0024-1164

Bone pathology in the titanosaur dinosaur Uberabatitan ribeiroi from the Marília Formation (Bauru Group, Late Cretaceous) of Uberaba city (Minas Gerais State, Brazil) is analyzed here. They include two fused procoelous mid-caudal vertebrae (CPPLIP-1020) and a haemal arch (CPPLIP-1006) of the middle section of the tail with a healing fracture callus. The analyses of the caudal vertebrae CPPLIP-1020 of Uberabatitan permit us to recognize the following signs, based on CT scan and external macroscopic observations: (a) ossified longitudinal tendons; (b) likely ossified intervertebral disc, producing fused vertebral bodies; (c) fused right zygapophyseal process with a laterally developed osteophyte affecting this joint; (d) osteophytes and exostoses at different portions of the vertebrae; (e) cloacae, bone erosion and likely internal infection. According to all the processes observed in these caudals, we could not discard at least two possibilities for diagnosing the fused vertebrae. It would be the result of a spondyloarthropathy process (considering most of the observed signs) possibly associated with an infection (e.g., discospondylitis/infections spondylitis or septic arthritis). The bone lesions in Uberabatitan ribeiroi from the Late Cretaceous of Brazil increase this type of study in titanosaur dinosaurs, which although possessing huge fossil record, pathology studies are still very limited.