An international research team has discovered fossilised red blood cells and collagen-related molecules in a 115-million-year-old dinosaur, offering new insights into ancient life and fossil preservation.
Researchers led by Curtin University have identified preserved red blood cells and intact heme biomolecules in the limb bones of a theropod dinosaur, Aratasaurus museunacionali. The fossils, recovered in northeastern Brazil, date back approximately 115 million years.
Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study provides the first chemical evidence of haemoglobin-derived molecules preserved inside fossilised red blood cells. The discovery also includes amino acids of collagen, challenging existing understanding of how long biological molecules can survive in the fossil record.
Chemical Evidence Confirms Ancient Blood Remains
The researchers identified numerous mineralised red blood cells preserved within vascular canals in the dinosaur’s bones. Although previous studies had reported possible red blood cell structures in fossils, this research chemically confirmed the presence of haemoglobin-derived molecules within the cells.
The samples contained preserved heme, the oxygen-carrying component of haemoglobin, providing evidence of fossilised blood remains.
The study was led by John Curtin Distinguished Professor Kliti Grice, Founding Director of Curtin University’s WA-Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre and an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow.
“To detect intact heme derived molecules in 115-million-year-old red blood cells is astonishing: this really is a landmark discovery,” Professor Grice said.
“It not only extends the known fossil record of blood, but also offers a direct molecular window into the physiology of long-extinct animals so we may better understand them and the world they lived in.”
Mineralisation Helped Preserve Cellular Structures
The red blood cells were mineralised with hausmannite, which acted as a natural time capsule, helping stabilise cellular structures and biomolecular components, including amino acids of collagen, over an extended geological period.
The research team believes the exceptional preservation was made possible by the conditions surrounding the dinosaur’s burial. According to the researchers, the animal was rapidly buried in a low-oxygen, microbially rich environment shortly after its death.
The study involved researchers from Curtin University’s School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, the Brazilian National Museum, the Regional University of Cariri and Johns Hopkins University.
Discovery Challenges Existing Understanding of Molecular Preservation
The findings challenge longstanding assumptions about the survival of biomolecules over geological timescales, particularly the belief that molecules such as haemoglobin cannot remain preserved over such long periods.
“These findings challenge longstanding assumptions that certain biomolecules such as haemoglobin cannot survive deep time,” Professor Grice said.
“It opens exciting new avenues for molecular-level palaeontology, allowing us to investigate the evolution of blood, metabolism and even activity levels in ancient animals.”
The discovery could help researchers investigate the biological characteristics of extinct animals through molecular evidence preserved in fossils.
Findings Could Have Implications for Astrobiology
Professor Martin Van Kranendonk, Head of Curtin University’s School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, said the research changes how scientists understand the preservation of molecular structures over long periods and under hostile conditions.
He added that the findings could also have implications for astrobiology and the search for ancient life beyond Earth.
“This study exemplifies how coordinated efforts across institutions, continents and scientific disciplines can unlock extraordinary insights into ancient life,” Professor Van Kranendonk said.
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