Scientists find 115-million-year-old dinosaur blood in Brazil fossil
Researchers identified fossilised red blood cells and collagen amino acids in the leg bone of a theropod dinosaur.
An international team of scientists has discovered fossilised red blood cells and collagen amino acids in the leg bone of a 115-million-year-old dinosaur, according to ThePrint.
The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) on 2 November, involve a theropod dinosaur named Aratasaurus museunacionali. The remains were originally found in Brazil in 2008.
The researchers used microscopes and chemical analysis to confirm the discovery. They observed fossilised blood canals and the presence of heme, a molecule that helps transport oxygen, while finding no evidence of fungi or microbe contaminants.
Lead author Kliti Grice, founding director of Curtin’s Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre, said the discovery of intact heme molecules is astonishing and offers a molecular window into the physiology of extinct animals.
Grice stated that the findings challenge previous assumptions that biomolecules like haemoglobin cannot survive over long periods of time. She added that it allows for the investigation of evolution, metabolism, and activity levels in ancient animals.
The dinosaur was reportedly buried in a low-oxygen environment rich with microbes shortly after its death, which allowed it to be exceptionally preserved.