Title
Severe soft tissue ossification in a southern right whale Eubalaena australis
Author(s)
La Sala, L.F.; Pozzi, L.M.; McAloose, D.; Kaplan, F.S.; Shore, E.M.; Kompanje, E.J.O.; Sidor, I.F.; Musmeci, L.; Uhart, M.M.
Published
2012
Publisher
Diseases of Aquatic Organisms
Abstract
The carcass of a stranded southern right whale Eubalaena australis, discovered on the coast of Golfo Nuevo in Peninsula Valdes, Argentina, exhibited extensive orthotopic and heterotopic ossification, osteochondroma-like lesions, and early degenerative joint disease. Extensive soft tissue ossification led to ankylosis of the axial skeleton in a pattern that, in many respects, appeared more similar to a disabling human genetic disorder, fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), than to more common skeletal system diseases in cetaceans and other species. This is the first reported case of a FOP-like condition in a marine mammal and raises important questions about conserved mechanisms of orthotopic and heterotopic ossification in this clade.
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PUB14151