EVIDENCE OF OSTEOMYELITIS IN A SAUROPOD RIB CAUSED BY A POTENTIAL BITE

A partial rib from an adult Camarasaurus lentus (Sauropodomorpha: Camarasaurinae), was discovered at the Beside Sauropod (BS) Quarry from the Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) in the upper Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation in Hot Springs County, Wyoming. This rib, (a right dorsal, number 9-11) displays a pathology, 33 cm from the tuberculum rib head, which is believed to be a healed bite mark. There is also what is believed to be a corresponding drain hole on the ventral side of the rib, opposite of the pathology. The bone area which displays the bite mark is enlarged, possibly containing a tooth that occurred antemortem, as evidence per a CT scan. The bone appears to show signs of osteomyelitis due to a foreign object embedded in the bone.