Palaeoepidemiology in extinct vertebrate populations: factors influencing skeletal health in Jurassic marine reptiles.

ABSTRACT: Palaeoepidemiological studies related to palaeoecology are rare, but have the potential to provide information regarding ecosystem-level characteristics by measuring individual health. In order to assess factors underlying the prevalence of pathologies in large marine vertebrates, we surveyed ichthyosaurs (Mesozoic marine reptiles) from the Posidonienschiefer Formation (Early Jurassic: Toarcian) of southwestern Germany. This Formation provides a relatively large sample from a geologically and geographically restricted interval, making it ideal for generating baseline data for a palaeoepidemiological survey. We examined the influence of taxon, anatomical region, body size, ontogeny and environmental change, as represented by the early Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event, on the prevalence of path

SUBMITTER: Pardo-Perez JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6689571 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature