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Researchers find 115 million year old dinosaur red blood cells

Scientists have recovered fossilized red blood cells from an Aratasaurus leg bone fossil found in Brazil, providing the earliest evidence of dinosaur blood cells.

FTMQ Science, written by our newsroom0 views

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Researchers have discovered fossilized red blood cells in a 115-million-year-old dinosaur bone fragment. Discover Magazine, ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English, Tawasul News, New Scientist, and IFLScience reported on the finding. New Scientist specified that the red blood cells were recovered in three-dimensional detail from a fragment of leg bone belonging to an Aratasaurus museunacionali dinosaur fossil collected in Brazil. [1][2][3][4][6]

New Scientist reported that Kliti Grice at Curtin University participated in the research. The nondescript leg bone preserved abundant blood cells, which may represent the earliest fossilized red blood cells ever identified in dinosaur remains. [4]

Fossilized blood cells have been documented in previous discoveries. New Scientist reported that red blood cells were found in 75-million-year-old dinosaur bone fragments in Canada in 2015. Additionally, blood cells were recovered in Montana in 2005 from the femur of a Tyrannosaurus rex that died 68 million years ago. [4]

The discovery challenges existing assumptions about what preserved dinosaur fossils can reveal about ancient life, according to ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English, Tawasul News, and IFLScience. [2][3][6]

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In short

  • Red blood cells were recovered from a 115-million-year-old Aratasaurus leg bone fossil found in Brazil.
  • The discovery presents the earliest known evidence of fossilized red blood cells in dinosaurs.
  • Kliti Grice at Curtin University worked on the analysis of the fossil.
  • Earlier finds include red blood cells in a 75-million-year-old fossil from Canada and a 68-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex from Montana.

Sources

Every paragraph above points to the numbered items it rests on. Read the originals here.

  1. [1]Evidence of Ancient Blood Found for the First Time in a 115-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur FossilDiscover Magazine, 3h ago (the report this story comes from)
  2. [2]Challenging Scientific Assumptions: Blood Remnants Found in 115-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur BonesASHARQ AL-AWSAT English, 6h ago
  3. [3]Challenging Scientific Assumptions: Blood Remnants Found in 115-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Bonesشبكة تواصل الإخبارية, 11h ago
  4. [4]Dinosaur red blood cells recovered from 115-million-year-old fossilNew Scientist, 6h ago
  5. [5]Cell Press Says Probe Found No Evidence of Cancer Cell Editor BriberyCaixin Global, 18h ago
  6. [6]First Confirmed Evidence Of Fossilized Red Blood Cells In Dinosaur Bones Is A Gamechanger In What Fossils Can Reveal About Ancient LifeIFLScience, 6h ago

Background

  1. [7]Blood Meridian on Wikipedia
  2. [8]Dinosaurs, the Terrible Lizards on Wikipedia
  3. [9]Evidence on Wikipedia
  4. [10]Museum fossil reveals first European megaraptoran dinosaur species FTMQ Science, 15d ago
  5. [11]Fossil skull reveals new dinosaur species on Isle of Wight FTMQ Science, 20d ago

Our newsroom writes these reports with the help of software, from the 11 sources listed and nothing else, and checks them against those sources. Facts can still be wrong or move on; the originals are the record. Spotted a mistake? Write to daniel@monsterkong.com.

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Earlier reports of ours on the same people and subjects.

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