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Dinosaurs populate the human imagination as forces of nature, but a new study has first identified a case of cancer in prehistoric creatures. The research was published in the August issue of The Lancet Oncology.
A malformed bone in the leg of a Centrosaur, unearthed in Canada in 1989, had originally been considered by paleontologists as a healed fracture. A new examination under a microscope, however, revealed that it was, in fact, a malignant tumor. In the analysis, a technique also used in the diagnosis of cancer in humans was used.
For the study’s co-author, Mark Crowther, the discovery makes the dinosaurs more real.
Read more in Portuguese at PLATAFORMA
