Mineralised 'red blood cells' detected in 115
Researchers have discovered potential mineralized red blood cells in the limb bones of a 115-million-year-old Brazilian dinosaur. The study suggests that microbial mats may have played a crucial role in preserving these soft tissues over millions of years.
Why it matters
Understanding how soft tissues are preserved in fossils helps scientists reconstruct the physiology and evolutionary history of extinct species.
An artist impression of an Aratasaurus museunacionali which died in Brazil 115 million years ago and may have left behind fossilised blood. ( Supplied: Victor O. Leshyk )
Limb bones of a Brazilian dinosaur, Aratasaurus museunacionali , may contain mineralised red blood cells.
The finding adds to a growing body of research of soft tissue preservation in dinosaur fossils.
Scientists are testing whether they can fossilise human blood in microbial mats from Shark Bay, Western Australia.
Link copied Share Share article Coastal microbes you would find at the beach may have helped preserve red blood cells in a 115-million-year-old dinosaur fossil, a new study claims.
An international team of scientists, led by Kliti Grice at Curtin University, reports finding traces of heme in the hind limb bones of a Brazilian feathered dinosaur, Aratasaurus museunacionali.
Heme is a molecule in haemoglobin, a protein red blood cells use to carry oxygen.
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