Scientists claim to have identified fossilised red blood cells in a 115‑million‑year‑old dinosaur bone, a discovery that could reshape our understanding of how soft tissues are preserved over geological time.
The finding came after a team of researchers conducted chemical tests on the hind‑leg bones of an Aratasaurus, a small meat‑eating dinosaur that lived and died in what is now north‑eastern Brazil.
Analyses revealed the presence of heme, the organic compound that enables haemoglobin to carry oxygen and gives blood its distinctive crimson hue. The detection of this molecule suggests that the cellular structures observed may indeed be remnants of the dinosaur’s blood.
If confirmed, this would be the first time that cellular‑level structures have been detected in dinosaur remains, offering new insights into the conditions that allow soft tissues to survive for millions of years.
Researchers caution that further work is required to verify the nature of the structures and to rule out contamination or other explanations before drawing definitive conclusions.
<small>Source: The Guardian — read the original story there.</small>
