What Were Extinct Animals Sick With?

At the new, small temporary exhibition, you can see the diseased bones of extinct animals and learn the methods used to examine patients who died millions of years ago.

The exhibition includes, among other things, fossilised bones showing the oldest fossil record of tuberculosis, dating back 245 million years. The Triassic marine reptile Proneusticosaurus silesiacus suffered from it (Tuberculosis nodules on bones, picture alongside).

You can also see the remains of the dinosaur Gobihadros mongoliensis, whose bones indicate old age, and learn how dinosaurs aged.

The exhibition opened to coincide with the publication of research on dinosaur ageing in Scientific Reports (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-91366-1).

The exhibition was substantively prepared by Justyna Słowiak and Tomasz Szczygielski (Instytut Paleobiolofgii PAN) and Dawid Surmik (Uniwersytet Śląski).