dinosaur fossils , we ’ve all been learn , consist of bone — their physique , pelt , and organ having decayed long ago . But a new find might upend that laying claim : scientist have foundevidence of blood cells with the protein intactin eight fossils which were not even particularly well - preserved .
Soft - tissues have beendiscovered in dinosaursbefore , but the event were controversial . In fact , some experts still believe it ’s contamination . But a new study published in Nature Communications uses a high - tech instrument to peer more distinctly at fossil than ever before . Robert F. Servicedescribes the proficiency for skill :
[ Sergio ] Bertazzo , an expert on how living bones incorporate minerals , uses a tool squall a focused ion ray of light to slit through sample , leaving pristine surfaces that are ideal for gamy - resolution tomography studies . He teamed up with Maidment to apply the technique to eight chunks of dinosaur toe , rib , hip , leg , and chela .
What they found shock them . Imaging the new - cut of meat surfaces with scanning and contagion negatron microscope , “ we did n’t see bone crystallites ” as expected , Maidment say . “ What we saw instead was gentle tissue paper . It was completely unexpected . My initial response was these results are not material . ”
The team found round structure resembling red blood cells and Strand resembling the protein collagen . When they lean a chemical analysis , the blood cells were similar to that of emus ’ ( a relative of dinosaurs ) and the collagen seemed to be made up of aminic acids known to be common in the protein . This is n’t necessary jibe - dunk proof yet , but it ’s tantalizing .
The find is so exciting because the fossils in this study were utterly unremarkable . If the results obligate up , it could mean lenient tissues may be preserve in many run - of - the - mill fogy . But no — I know what you ’re thinking — desoxyribonucleic acid is still more fragile than proteins , so do n’t await Jurassic Park yet .
Below : Amorphorous carbon copy - based stuff ( allow ) and red stock cellular telephone - like structure ( right ) .
connect with the author at[email protected ] .
Top image : Scanning electron micrograph of the dinosaur dodo , show up what may be strings of collagen . Bertazzo et atomic number 13
dinosaursJurassic ParkPaleontologyScience
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