An international research team has discovered what it says is the oldest unequivocal evidence of fossilized red blood cells and collagen amino acids in the bones of a 115-million-year-old dinosaur, El.kz cites Xinhua.
Researchers discovered mineralized red blood cells and intact heme biomolecules in the limb bones of a 115-million-year-old theropod dinosaur recovered in northeastern Brazil, according to a statement released Tuesday by Australia's Curtin University.
The bones contained numerous red blood cells preserved within vascular canals. While previous studies have reported possible red blood cell structures in fossils, this study is the first to chemically prove the presence of hemoglobin-derived molecules inside the cells.
The red blood cell-like structures were mineralized with hausmannite, which may have helped preserve their cellular structures and associated biomolecules over millions of years, according to the findings published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Researchers from Australia, Japan, Brazil and the United States believe the exceptional preservation resulted from the dinosaur being rapidly buried in a low-oxygen, microbially rich environment shortly after its death.
Lead author Kliti Grice, a distinguished professor at Curtin University, said the findings challenged longstanding assumptions that biomolecules such as hemoglobin could not survive deep time.
The findings could open new avenues for studying the evolution of blood, metabolism and activity levels in ancient animals, while offering insights relevant to the search for ancient life in the cosmos, the researchers said.
