The Grandview Museum of Natural Science at Guangzhou's Grandview Mall hosted a "Dinosaur Hospital" event on September 12, unveiling the prehistoric "medical record" of its star exhibit—the Medusaceratops lokii.
The event tells the story of a dinosaur that survived severe bone infection and combat injury some 77 million years ago. The findings have been published in the international journal Fossil Record.
The specimen in the Grandview Mall is the only complete Medusaceratops specimen in China, with 85 percent original bone. Excavated in the U.S. between 2011 and 2012, it is one of only three known Medusaceratops specimens worldwide, the other two housed in the U.S. and Japan. The event was part of a series of activities in Guangdong marking China's national science popularization month this September.
Xing Lida, an associate professor at China University of Geosciences, Beijing, presented findings from a CT scan of the fossil. The seventh tail vertebra showed severe pathology: a rough surface with cauliflower-like growths and internal evidence of simultaneous bone destruction and repair. Critically, a pus drainage channel on the right side indicated the tail had been severely infected and abscessed, yet the dinosaur survived for a long time afterward.
CT imaging also revealed a healed rib fracture on the dinosaur's left side—evidence of a past battle and subsequent recovery.
"This ancient orthopedic record shows the public that dinosaurs weren't just big and fierce—they suffered injuries, fell ill, fought bravely and still endured and survived. They had their own survival stories," Xing said.
Grandview Mall will host further events about the Medusaceratops lokii in October and November, including a fossil restoration workshop and a talk by Wang Donghao, author of the paper on the ceratopsian's chronic osteomyelitis.
Text | Huang Xinyi, Sun Lulu (intern)
Photos | Huang Xinyi, Sun Lulu (intern), Grandview Mall
