Dataset for "Disease in the Cretaceous: A comparative study of Iguanodon and hadrosaur palaeopathology"

The following dataset represents the list of material and supplementary analyses for the thesis entitled “Disease in the Cretaceous - A Comparative Study of Iguanodon and Hadrosaur Palaeopathology”, reporting all the specimens from the visited museum collections and those published in the literature.

Appendix 1 is a list of all the palaeopathological specimens known from the ornithopod literature, subdivided in 11 body parts.

Appendices 2 to 4 represent the complete list of studied material, added to the literature revision, that describes each pathological element in the three morphotypes (corresponding to basal (e.g. Dryosaurus), “intermediate” (e.g. Iguanodon) and derived ornithopods e.g. (Edmontosaurus)). The specimens are subdivided into 16 body parts, as their identification was done personally, helping to discern between, for example, middle to distal caudals. Graphical representations are proposed at the end of each appendix.

In Appendix 5, specimens belonging to Morphotype C from four museum collections are compared to each other, treated as different “populations”, with graphical distributions and codification for the linear regression, the latter done in the software SPSS.

Appendix 6 is a complete schematical description of all caudal vertebrae from Morphotype C, reporting measurements and type of injuries/deformations. Although the studied specimens are listed in Appendix 2 to 4, their osteology is extensively described in Appendix 7, grouped per body regions between the three morphotypes. Some of the most peculiar and/or uncertain specimens were scanned via a microCT device, and their descriptions are reported in Appendix 8. A wide number of caudal neural spines from Appendix 4 are extensively described in Appendix 9 and listed in tables together with the angulation of the bending of the pathological spines.

The final Appendix 10 corresponds to the published article about the palaeopathologies detected in the holotype of Parasaurolophus walkeri during the collection visit at the Royal Ontario Museum (Canada). The palaeopathological analysis provided an unexpected reevaluation of the neck musculature of the species.

Included below is a list of the current filenames of the dataset and the corresponding thesis chapter in which they first appeared with original short file name:

Appendix1: List of the published palaeopathological specimens in ornithopoda = Appendix1_Chapter2_Published_pathologies

Appendix 2: List of palaeopathological specimens recognised in basal ornithopods (e.g. Dryosaurus) = Appendix2_Chapter3_MorphotypeA

Appendix 3: List of palaeopathological specimens recognised in “intermediate” ornithopods (e.g. Iguanodon) = Appendix3_Chapter3_MorphotypeB

Appendix 4: List of palaeopathological specimens recognised in derived ornithopods (e.g. Edmontosaurus) = Appendix4_Chapter3_MorphotypeC

Appendix 5: Statistical overview and analysis of four museum collections of hadrosaurid specimens = Appendix5_Chapter3_Analysis

Appendix 6: Schematical description of hadrosaurid caudal vertebrae = Appendix6_Chapter3_CaudalVertebrae

Appendix 7: Osteological and pathological description of the palaeopathological specimens from the three morphotypes = Appendix7_Chapter3_DescriptionPathologicalBones

Appendix 8: Internal anatomy of hadrosaurid pathological bones using microtomographic scanning = Appendix8_Chapter3_CTscans

Appendix 9: Isolated caudal neural spines: Osteological description, pathologies and measurements = Appendix9_Chapter5_DescriptionMatingInjuries

Appendix 10: Publication about the palaeopathological description of the injuries in the holotype of Parasaurolophus walkeri = Appendix10_Bertozzo et al 2020

The current dataset files are embargoed until 31 Dec 2026.