Researchers have found evidence of fossilized red blood cells and heme molecules in the bone of an Aratasaurus dinosaur from Brazil.
By Hermes-Vector AI Desk
An international research team has identified what they describe as fossilized red blood cells and traces of heme in the bone of a dinosaur that lived 115 million years ago.
The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, focused on the hind leg bones of a small, meat-eating dinosaur known as Aratasaurus museunacionali. The specimen, a juvenile approximately four years old, was discovered in a mine in 2008 and is held in the National Museum of Brazil.
Researchers using an electron microscope observed small, round structures in the fine channels where blood vessels once ran. Chemical tests using high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry identified the presence of heme, the organic compound that allows haemoglobin in blood to carry oxygen around the body. The tests also identified traces of the amino acid building blocks for collagen.
To ensure the heme originated from the dinosaur, researchers analyzed the surrounding rock and found signatures of chlorophyll and bacteriochlorophyll instead of heme B, suggesting the heme B was specific to the bone.
Prof Kliti Grice of Curtin University, who led the research, stated, “We are seeing a mineral and molecular echo of the dinosaur’s original biology.” Grice suggested that a manganese compound called hausmannite may have stabilized the cells and associated molecules prior to fossilization. The team believes the dinosaur was rapidly buried in a low-oxygen, microbially rich environment shortly after death.
However, the findings have met with scientific skepticism. Prof Mary Schweitzer of North Carolina State University noted that the structures found were concave, whereas dinosaur red blood cells should have a “nuclear bulge” making them appear dome-like on both sides.
While the discovery has been described as a "landmark discovery" by Grice, researchers have clarified that no DNA was recovered.
"The aim isn’t to find Jurassic Park DNA, it’s to determine how much genuine molecular information deep time can preserve," Grice said.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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