The growth probably affected the balance of the animal, which lived 72 million years ago
The dinosaur brain box
American scientists have discovered a brain tumor in a dinosaur fossil for the first time. The growth probably affected the balance of the animal, which lived 72 million years ago.
The tumor was discovered when a fossil of a gorgosaurus (a relative of the tyrannosaurus), which is about eight meters long, was being prepared for its transfer to the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, where it was going to be displayed. Researchers from the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research and radiologists from Indiana University conducted a CT scan of the dinosaur's brain box and discovered a lump the size of a golf ball. The researchers don't know what type of tumor it is, but based on its location in the brain box, they speculate that it could have caused the dinosaur's immediate death, or at least affected its balance and ability to move. Other injuries discovered in the fossil - leg and shoulder fractures - support the hypothesis that the dinosaur fell or was unable to defend itself (New York Times)
