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Researchers Find Red Blood Cells in 115-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Bone
· Confirmed
In Short: Researchers studying a 115 million-year-old dinosaur bone say they've found the strongest evidence yet of red blood cells in a fossil, according to a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Researchers studying a 115 million-year-old dinosaur bone say they've found the strongest evidence yet of red blood cells in a fossil, according to a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The fossil, a partial hind limb of Aratasaurus museunacionali, a theropod dinosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous, was dug up in 2008 at the geological site Mina Pedra Branca in northeastern Brazil.
Lead author Kliti Grice, an organic geochemist at Curtin University in Australia, said the team identified microscopic structures resembling red blood cells, along with blood-derived molecules, preserved for over 100 million years.
In one of the almost 30 tests they performed, the team ground up bone samples and shot them with a laser, the light scattering back from the sample revealed the presence of heme, a ring-shaped compound that contains iron and helps red blood cells transport oxygen.
The scientists’ suspicions that they were looking at red blood cells were bolstered when chemical tests came back positive for heme and its breakdown products.
However, not all experts are convinced that the microscopic structures are truly red blood cells. Some researchers have long debated whether certain microscopic structures in dinosaur bones represent remnants of blood cells or formations produced during fossilization.
Tissues, cells and other soft biological samples rarely ever survive the fossilization process and thus make for controversial discoveries.
If researchers find similar evidence of red blood cells in more fossil specimens, it “could potentially help us ask much more sophisticated questions about the physiology of extinct animals,” Grice said.
The fossil is a partial hind limb of Aratasaurus museunacionali, a theropod dinosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous.
There may therefore be fossils sitting in museum collections around the world that contain molecular and cellular information that has simply never been investigated.
What this adds
The microscopic structures resembling red blood cells and chemical evidence of blood molecules were found in the remains of Aratasaurus museunacionali, a meat-eating theropod dinosaur discovered in northeastern Brazil.
Background
Researchers studying a 115 million-year-old dinosaur bone say they've found the strongest evidence yet of red blood cells in a fossil, according to a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Researchers studying a 115 million-year-old dinosaur bone say they've found the strongest evidence yet of red blood cells in a fossil, according to a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
What's confirmed
- Researchers studying a 115 million-year-old dinosaur bone say they've found the strongest evidence yet of red blood cells in a fossil, according to a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
- The fossil, a partial hind limb of Aratasaurus museunacionali, a theropod dinosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous, was dug up in 2008 at the geological site Mina Pedra Branca in northeastern Brazil.
- Lead author Kliti Grice, an organic geochemist at Curtin University in Australia, said the team identified microscopic structures resembling red blood cells, along with blood-derived molecules, preserved for over 100 million years.
- In one of the almost 30 tests they performed, the team ground up bone samples and shot them with a laser, the light scattering back from the sample revealed the presence of heme, a ring-shaped compound that contains iron and helps red blood cells transport oxygen.
- The scientists’ suspicions that they were looking at red blood cells were bolstered when chemical tests came back positive for heme and its breakdown products.
- However, not all experts are convinced that the microscopic structures are truly red blood cells. Some researchers have long debated whether certain microscopic structures in dinosaur bones represent remnants of blood cells or formations produced during fossilization.
- Tissues, cells and other soft biological samples rarely ever survive the fossilization process and thus make for controversial discoveries.
- If researchers find similar evidence of red blood cells in more fossil specimens, it “could potentially help us ask much more sophisticated questions about the physiology of extinct animals,” Grice said.
- The fossil is a partial hind limb of Aratasaurus museunacionali, a theropod dinosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous.
- There may therefore be fossils sitting in museum collections around the world that contain molecular and cellular information that has simply never been investigated.
What's still developing
- A newly discovered giant fungus belongs to a previously unknown family that may have emerged around 65 million years ago, shortly after the mass extinction that killed the non-avian dinosaurs.
- But if confirmed, it would open up entirely new avenues for scientists, allowing them to investigate dinosaur blood, metabolism and even their activity levels.
- Nicknamed "Jodi," the fossil is one of only three known skeletons of Nanotyrannus, a smaller predatory dinosaur whose identity has been debated by scientists for decades.
- A bird that was eaten and partially excreted by a dinosaur 66 million years ago has left behind the best-preserved feathers ever recovered by scientists from dinosaur-age rock.
- If we come across organic matter, such as blood or tissue, that can change our understanding completely—which is what makes the latest discovery by Sergio Bertazzo and his colleagues at Imperial College London so thrilling.
- Scientists believe its ancient ancestors may have emerged shortly after the dinosaurs disappeared — and have nicknamed the fungus “D-rex” Kunming Institute of Botany / Chinese Academy of Sciences Scientists exploring forests in China have discovered a giant new fungus that can weigh nearly five pounds, and its unusual size has earned it a dinosaur-inspired nickname.
- Scientists aren’t yet sure why dinosaurs found in these regions differ so much from one another.
- These findings allowed scientists to piece together a hypothesis.
- This is a question scientists, astrologers and astronauts have tried to find the answer to for many years.
- There’s a lot we can tell about life millions of years ago from fossils dug up today, but dry bones cannot give us the full story.
- According to Sotheby's auction listing, the skeleton measures approximately 6 meters (19.6 feet) from head to tail and contains 191 fossilized bone elements from a single animal, including a nearly complete skull.
- Traces of prehistoric blood could reveal unprecedented clues about dinosaur biology, but they’ve been notoriously difficult to confirm.