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Scientists find 115-million-year-old dinosaur red blood cell traces
An international research team, led by scientists from Curtin University in Australia, has identified what they describe as the most robust evidence to date of fossilized red blood cells in a dinosaur bone. The discovery involves a leg bone from a juvenile Aratasaurus museunacionali, a small carnivorous theropod that lived approximately 115 million years ago in what is now northeastern Brazil.
Using advanced microscopy and chemical analysis, including mass spectrometry, researchers identified oval microstructures within the fossilized vascular canals that closely resemble red blood cells. Crucially, the team also detected chemical signatures of heme, the iron-containing component of hemoglobin responsible for oxygen transport. This marks the first time such chemical evidence of heme has been confirmed within these types of structures in a dinosaur fossil.
The exceptional preservation is attributed to the dinosaur being buried rapidly in a low-oxygen environment. Scientists believe the mineral hausmannite, a manganese-based mineral, acted as a natural time capsule, helping to stabilize the delicate cellular structures and biomolecules over millions of years. This finding challenges previous assumptions regarding the long-term survival of biomolecules and provides a molecular window into the physiology of extinct animals.
Entities
Araripe Basin · Aratasaurus museonationali · Aratasaurus museunacionali · Brazil · Curtin University · Kliti Grice · National Academy of Sciences · National Museum of Brazil · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
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What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.
- [● 3 SOURCES] The dinosaur measured up to 3 meters long and weighed about 34 kilograms. www.deia.eus · lapatilla.com · www.noticiasdenavarra.com
- [● 3 SOURCES] The samples contained preserved heme. www.deia.eus · lapatilla.com · www.noticiasdenavarra.com
- [● 3 SOURCES] The research was published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. www.deia.eus · lapatilla.com · www.noticiasdenavarra.com
- [● 3 SOURCES] Researchers discovered fossilized red blood cells and collagen amino acids in dinosaur bones. www.deia.eus · lapatilla.com · www.noticiasdenavarra.com
- [● 3 SOURCES] The study chemically demonstrated the presence of hemoglobin-derived molecules inside the cells. www.deia.eus · lapatilla.com · www.noticiasdenavarra.com
- [● 3 SOURCES] The fossils were found in the Araripe Basin in Brazil. www.deia.eus · lapatilla.com · www.noticiasdenavarra.com
- [● 3 SOURCES] The dinosaur species is Aratasaurus museonationali. www.deia.eus · lapatilla.com · www.noticiasdenavarra.com
- [● 3 SOURCES] The dinosaur bones are 115 million years old. www.deia.eus · lapatilla.com · www.noticiasdenavarra.com