Scientists have found dinosaur blood in fossilized remains for the first time
Scientists have announced that they have found traces of dinosaur blood in fossilized remains about 115 million years old for the first time. The discovery was made in Brazil. For a long time, it was believed that the preservation of organic molecules for such an extended period was impossible. The results of the study were published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), writes Popular Science
Researchers found the remains of a young individual of the dinosaur species Aratasaurus museunacionali. They were discovered back in 2008. According to paleontologists' estimates, the dinosaur was about three meters long and weighed approximately 34 kilograms. As it was a young individual, it likely could have reached much larger sizes in adulthood.
An international group of scientists was able to confirm the presence of preserved biomolecules and mineralized erythrocytes—red blood cells—in the fossils. Researchers chemically identified hemes for the first time—compounds involved in oxygen transport in the blood.
Detailed study of thin sections of the fossils allowed the discovery of mineralized molecular components of erythrocytes, as well as the complex manganese oxide—hausmannite. Scientists believe that it is this substance that helped preserve molecular structures, including heme—a ring-shaped molecule with iron, which is part of various proteins, including hemoglobin.
Hausmannite also contributed to the preservation of other blood biomolecules, such as amino acids, which are part of collagen.
The study authors suggest that the rapid burial of the remains in an environment rich in microorganisms and poor in oxygen contributed to the preservation of these substances.
Co-author of the study, chemist Kliti Grice from Australia's Curtin University, called the discovery significant, as it challenges previous notions about the impossibility of preserving biomolecules like hemoglobin for millions of years.
According to her, this opens new possibilities for molecular paleontology, including the study of blood evolution, metabolism, and activity levels of ancient animals.
Scientists also suggest that the results may be significant for the search for traces of life beyond Earth. If such delicate biomolecules can be preserved in fossils for millions of years, similar evidence of life could potentially exist in other parts of the Universe.
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