Disease in the Fossil Record

Abstract

Paleontological paleopathology of fossil non-human vertebrates is an important extension to human paleopathology because it significantly expands the timespan from thousands up to hundreds of millions of years. Within its deep-time perspective, it puts the origin of human diseases and the evolution of pathophysiologic responses in the context of the distant evolutionary past. Furthermore, paleontological paleopathology overlaps broadly with paleobiology and geology and seeks to understand the lifestyle and physiology of extinct organisms and their interactions with each other and the paleoenvironment. In the last years, paleontological paleopathology has turned into a problem-driven field of research that focuses increasingly on the etiology of diseases by the formulation of testable hypotheses. This took place along with the rise of new non-invasive techniques to study the internal structure of fossil bones and teeth. Diagnosis in paleontological paleopathology is complicated by the fact that many taxonomic groups under study are extinct. Thus, the decision which is the appropriate morphological and physiological extant analog for comparison is still a matter of debate. A selection of current research topics in paleontological paleopathology is provided, encompassing the study of evolution of bone healing, neoplastic disease, infection, metabolic disease and developmental anomalies. Early paleopathological studies show that human and non-human paleopathology was not strictly separated as it is today. The authors hold the view that this separation is artificial and advocate increased collaboration between the different areas of paleopathology for a better understanding of how our own diseases are rooted in the deep past.