It could be the opening of a Jurassic Park rip-off: scientists examining ancient dinosaur bones find what appear to be fossilised red blood cells, and traces of the molecule that gives the beast\u2019s blood its distinctive crimson hue.<\/p>\n
But that is what researchers are claiming to have discovered after analysing the hind leg bones of a small, meat-eating dinosaur called an Aratasaurus that lived and died in what is now north-eastern Brazil<\/a> 115m years ago.<\/p>\n Electron microscope images of the dinosaur bones revealed small, round structures that resemble red blood cells in fine channels where blood vessels once ran, while chemical tests identified the presence of heme, the organic compound that allows haemoglobin in blood to carry oxygen around the body.<\/p>\n Such claims are controversial because biological tissues and molecules can break down fast, leaving little or no trace in ancient fossils. But if confirmed, it would open up entirely new avenues for scientists, allowing them to investigate dinosaur blood, metabolism and even their activity levels.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are seeing a mineral and molecular echo of the dinosaur\u2019s original biology,\u201d said Prof Kliti Grice at Curtin University in Western Australia who led the research team. \u201cFossilised red blood cells with distinct chemistry related to heme have never been found in situ in any fossil, let alone a dinosaur. This is a world first.\u201d<\/p>\n The fossilised remnants of the Aratasaurus were discovered in a mine in 2008 and have since been held in the National Museum of Brazil, where researchers continue to study them. While analysing the dinosaur\u2019s hind leg bones, Grice spotted the structures that resembled red blood cells.<\/p>\n The scientists\u2019 suspicions that they were looking at red blood cells were bolstered when chemical tests came back positive for heme and its breakdown products. Tests also found traces of the amino acid building blocks for collagen, a key protein in connective and other tissues.<\/p>\n A portion the Aratasaurus\u2019s hind limb. The remains were discovered in a mine in 2008 and have since been held in the National Museum of Brazil. Photograph: Curtin University<\/p>\n If the structures really are fossilised red blood cells, as the researchers contend, it raises the question of how they were preserved. According to Grice, a manganese compound called hausmannite, which formed in and around the blood cells, may have lent a helping hand by stabilising them prior to fossilisation. The same process might have helped preserve the amino acids, she added. The study appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences<\/a>.<\/p>\n