A Centrosaurus skeleton and an Albertosaurus skeleton, exhibited at the Royal Tyrrell Museum (Canada). Drawing. - NEWMAN MARK / SIPA

Cancer already existed in the time of the dinosaurs. Canadian researchers have discovered the world's first fossil case, according to a study published in early August in the scientific journal  The Lancet Oncology .

This leg bone, which comes from a Centrosaurus , was discovered by paleontologists in 1989 in the province of Alberta (Canada). Experts initially believed that the deformed bone had suffered a fracture that healed. But thanks to recent exams done with advanced technology, researchers noticed that the lump on the bone, the size of an apple, was in fact a cancerous tumor.

Fossils of a Centrosaurus dinosaur unearthed in 1989 with a malformed leg bone was thought to be a healed fracture. But a new examination has revealed that the malformation was a manifestation of osteosarcoma, an aggressive bone cancer. Read more https://t.co/PSYI7Kj35Z pic.twitter.com/mQboLkr4sy

- Reuters Science News (@ReutersScience) August 4, 2020

Cancer "is not a recent invention"

Finding evidence of cancer in such an old bone is difficult, as most tumors grow in soft tissue, poorly preserved by fossilization. “Oddly, under the microscope, it looked a lot like human osteosarcoma,” a malignant tumor of the bones, says Mark Crowther, co-author of the study. “It's fascinating to see that this cancer existed tens of millions of years ago and still exists. "

Rare Malignant Cancer Diagnosed in Centrosaurus Bone https://t.co/P7o5OBEKJY pic.twitter.com/71h9gF0uhQ

- Everything Dinosaur (@Everything_Dino) August 4, 2020

The tumor of this horned herbivore, which lived 76 to 77 million years ago, probably caused metastases that made the animal limp, according to the study's authors. However, it is surely not this cancer that killed the  Centrosaurus  : its bone was found among a hundred bones belonging to the same herd, undoubtedly carried away by a sudden catastrophe.

“The discovery of this cancer makes dinosaurs more real,” says Crowther. “We often think of them as mythical creatures, […] but they suffered from illnesses like humans. […] We realize that cancer is part of life, that it is not a recent invention, and that it is not exclusively linked to our environment. "

Science

Antarctica: 66-million-year-old egg laid by huge marine reptile

Science

The Moon was bombarded by a meteor shower 800 million years ago

  • Paleontology
  • Science
  • Did you see ?
  • Canada
  • Discovery
  • Cancer
  • Dinosaur