The Newshound

Scientists find fossilised 'red blood cells' in the bone of a 115-million-year-old dinosaur from Brazil in a world first

Mineralised, ellipsoidal structures inside vascular canals of the Aratasaurus museunacionali's leg bone, where hausmannite — a mineral present at the site — sealed and shielded the biological structures like a natural time capsule.
Mineralised, ellipsoidal structures inside vascular canals of the Aratasaurus museunacionali's leg bone, where hausmannite — a mineral present at the site — sealed and shielded the biological structures like a natural time capsule.

Scientists identified the creature as an Aratasaurus museunacionali — a small carnivorous theropod of around 34kg — which was discovered in a Brazilian gypsum mine in 2008, with its leg bones subsequently analysed by Professor Kliti Grice's team at Curtin University in Australia. Chemical analysis detected heme, the iron-containing molecule responsible for haemoglobin's oxygen-carrying capacity, within ellipsoidal structures in the bone's vascular canals, marking the first chemically confirmed evidence of its kind inside a fossil blood cell on Earth.

The carcass came to rest on coastal microbial mats and was swiftly covered in low-oxygen conditions, with the mineral hausmannite serving as a natural time capsule preserving the remains.

Grice's team emphasise that no DNA was recovered, ruling out any Jurassic Park-style cloning: 'We have not found dinosaur DNA or a dinosaur genome.'

Researchers say the discovery could shed light on how blood evolved, and that comparable preserved biological traces might be found beyond our planet.

MoreThe IndependentEvidence of dinosaur blood found in world‑first discoveryThe IndependentEvidence of red bloods cells found in 115 million years old dinosaur’s bonesBGNESScientists find traces of blood in 115-million-year-old dinosaur bone - BGNES
Read today's full feed at The Newshound →