HISTOLOGICAL AND GEOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF PATHOLOGICAL VERSUS NORMAL BONE IN ALLOSAURUS FRAGILIS AND MODERN AVIANS

Abstract

In modern organisms the structure and arrangement of bone apatite crystals is dependent on the arrangement of the organic collagen fibers. This is reflected in the formation of different types of bone tissue, such as woven (immature) or lamellar (mature), in pathological versus normal bone, or fast-growing (woven) versus slow-growing (lamellar) tissue. Because the basic physiological processes of fracture healing are similar in extant vertebrates, similar patterns may exist in fossil taxa. The three questions of interest for this study were the following: 1) Do differences exist in modern bone apatite crystallinity between normal and pathologic bone? 2) Are differences between normal and pathologic tissue consistent in both modern and fossil bone? 3) Does the type of bone tissue affect fossilization? In this study, we use histological and x-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses to examine fracture pathologies in pedal phalanges from the theropod dinosaur Allosaurus fragilis, and two modern bird species, Branta canadensis (Canada goose) and Cathartes aura (turkey vulture). Raman spectroscopy analysis was performed on modern birds, but not fossil material. Stable isotope and rare earth elements (REE) analyses were performed on fossil material to determine if there are differences in how pathologic bone fossilizes compared to normal bone. Results from Raman spectroscopy and XRD confirm that pathologic bone is more crystalline than normal bone in both fossil and modern taxa. Stable isotope and REE analyses do not show any difference in fossilization between pathologic and normal bone, suggesting that these techniques are more suitable for examining taphonomic rather than physiological differences.