Ten long time after the extremely controversial breakthrough of soft tissue paper within a 68 - million - year - old dinosaur bone , scientists have once again proved that we should n’t be so eager to dismiss exceptions to the rules , having detect what could well be red blood cells and second of connective tissue paper in poorly - keep dinosaur fossils .
This rare and exciting find suggests that our current ideas on the fossilization process may require re - evaluation and it could indicate that there is a treasure trove of datum out there that may have otherwise remained buried because scientists assumed that it would n’t live . If this turns out to be the case then the find may show in a new era of research , which could ultimately further our agreement of the biological science of long extinct species and the family relationship between them . The discipline has been published inNature Communications .
When scientists discover a fossil , thevast majority of the timethey’ve discovered the hard part of an beast , such as the inorganic ingredient of pearl that are made up of various mineral salts . An organism ’s easygoing tissues , such as skin and origin vessels , generally do n’t get keep well and thus are normally absent in ossified remains . This is because the protein molecule of which these physical structure parts are draw up decline comparatively quickly , helped along by microbes that like to devour organic textile . This led to the supposition that parts of proteins would n’t last for longer than 4 million years and that their original structure would be lose over time .
But that estimation was turned on its head back in 2005 when researchersdiscoveredsoft tissue paper preserved inside the leg bone of aTyrannosaurus rex . Although critics ab initio fire the breakthrough and claimed that it must be something else , scientists eventually gained musical accompaniment for their initial conclusion , suggesting that the bearing of soft tissue paper could be owe to the specimen ’s exceptional conservation . The latest find , however , demonstrates that such ideal consideration are not necessarily necessitate for such body section to linger in fossils for tenner of millions of years .
The tissue was detected after researchers from Imperial College London analyze eight fossil fragments from a dinosaur claw that had been housed at the Natural History Museum for over a 100 . Importantly , none of the specimens were exceptionally preserve . Their investigating involved the function of several different analytical method , starting off with an tomography technique calledscanning electron microscopy . By bombarding specimen with a beam of gamey - energy electrons , scientists could uncover information about surface structure and composition .
Next , they used a exact ion electron beam to cut through the sample and receive a glimpse of the dodo ’s internal construction . Finally , they used an instrument called amass spectrometerto identify the type and concentrations of molecules present in the samples , which were then equate with samples take from a distant relative of the dinosaur : the emu .
Through these proficiency , the researcher name oval - shaped structures with a dense core , which they reflect could be red blood cells , although they warn that further research is want for corroborate this . If they are right , this find may encourage scientists to reanalyze other specimen , which could potentially yield more red blood cells which otherwise would have pass unnoticed . And that would be a big spate , as it could allow research worker to examine how dinosaur metabolism evolved over time .
They also incur fibers which exhibited the characteristic , rope - alike form of the protein collagen , a major factor of connective tissue . Since the social system of this molecule vary between species , investigator may be able-bodied to use this entropy to examine the relationships between nonextant species , and also to gain insight into dinosaur physiology .
Sergio Bertazzo
you could check out a video of the scanning electron micrographs and 3D reconstructions from section of the crimson bloodline electric cell - like structure here :
