Historical discovery in Brazil: traces of dinosaur blood from 115 million years ago found

An international team of scientists discovered chemical evidence of ancient blood in the bones of a dinosaur that lived approximately 115 million years ago The finding, made in remains of Aratasaurus museunacionali found in northeastern Brazil, raises new possibilities for investigating how certain biological molecules were preserved over millions of years

The research was led by Kliti Grice, a professor at Curtin University in Australia, and was published on November 2 in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)

The discovery of fossilized blood in a dinosaur

The researchers examined limb bones of Aratasaurus museunacionali, a carnivorous dinosaur that inhabited what is now Brazilian territory during the Cretaceous period

Within the vascular channels of the bones, they found small mineralized structures compatible with red blood cells

The analyses also identified molecules related to heme, a component of hemoglobin that allows oxygen to be transported in the blood

The team believes that the combination of these chemical signals and their location within the fossil constitutes one of the strongest pieces of evidence obtained so far about the preservation of blood components in dinosaurs

The scientists' surprise at the preservation of the molecules

Grice emphasized the importance of the result for understanding how certain substances can withstand extraordinarily long geological periods

“Detecting intact molecules derived from heme in red blood cells from 115 million years ago is astonishing: it truly is a historic discovery”, she stated

The researcher explained that these results allow for molecular information about extinct animals and examination of aspects of their biological functioning

Amino acids associated with collagen were also identified, a protein essential for the structure of bones and connective tissues

However, the discovery does not mean that liquid blood, complete hemoglobin, or usable DNA has been recovered It involves mineralized structures and chemical traces that survived the fossilization process

How they managed to survive for 115 million years

One of the main explanations proposed by the researchers is related to the presence of hausmannite, a mineral composed of manganese oxides

The scientists believe that this material may have helped stabilize cellular structures and preserve some chemical components

The conditions of burial may also have contributed to the process

According to the presented hypothesis, the dinosaur was quickly covered by sediments in an environment with low oxygen and abundant microbial activity

The combination of these circumstances may have allowed certain biological remains to be replaced or protected by minerals before completely disappearing

The tests conducted to confirm the origin of the remains

The team used various techniques, including liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, Raman spectroscopy, and electron microscopy

These tools allowed for the identification of compounds derived from heme and verification of their association with the structures present within the vascular channels

Additionally, they compared the chemical signals of the bone with those of the surrounding rock to assess the possibility of external contamination

However, the interpretation still generates scientific debate Researcher Mary Schweitzer, a specialist in fossil tissues, expressed reservations about the definitive identification of the structures as red blood cells

What the discovery means for paleontology

The study involved specialists from Australia, Brazil, Japan, and the United States, among other institutions

The results could help investigate the evolution of blood, metabolism, and physiology of extinct species, aspects that are difficult to reconstruct solely from bones

They also offer new perspectives for astrobiology, which studies the possibilities of finding traces of ancient life beyond Earth

The researchers hope to apply these techniques to other fossils preserved in museums

The discovery expands the possibilities of studying the past through chemical evidence, although it will still be necessary to determine under what conditions these materials can be preserved and to what extent they allow for the reconstruction of dinosaur biology