Technology
Fossilized Red Blood Cell Structures Found in 115-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Bone
Researchers led by Professor Kliti Grice at Curtin University report finding red-blood-cell-like structures and traces of heme in the hind-leg bone of the small predatory dinosaur Aratasaurus, which lived 115 million years ago in what is now northeastern Brazil. The study, published in PNAS, also found collagen amino acids. The claim is contested by paleontologist Mary Schweitzer, who says the concave structures do not match dinosaur red blood cells, though she finds the heme and collagen evidence more convincing.