Was Sue sick?

Sue, the largest, most complete Tyrannosaurus rex found to date may have been laid low by microscopic parasites.

Paleontologists have puzzled over smooth, round holes in Sue’s jaws. Originally thought to be bite marks from another T. rex, a new analysis concludes that the holes were the result of a parasitic infection that is known to affect modern avian raptors like hawks and eagles.

The infection probably caused lesions and swelling in Sue’s mouth and throat, prompting one researcher to speculate that the infection may have killed Sue as she found it increasingly hard to swallow as the infection spread, and she may have starved to death.

It is difficult to determine the cause of death for an animal that died millions of years ago, but this finding suggests that modern birds may owe their susceptibility to this parasite to their therapod ancestors.

Research from Ewan D.S. Wolff, et al., Common avian infection plagued the tyrant dinosaurs. PLoS One