Dinosaur blood – oldest discovery rewrites what fossils can reveal about the past
Video Credit: Curtin University
Scientific Frontline: Extended "At a Glance" Summary: Deep-Time Preservation of Dinosaur Hemoglobin
The Core Concept: Researchers have discovered intact heme biomolecules and mineralized red blood cells within the limb bones of a 115-million-year-old theropod dinosaur, Aratasaurus museunacionali. This finding provides the oldest verified and chemically proven evidence of blood-derived molecules preserved in the fossil record.
Key Distinction/Mechanism: Unlike previous studies that only identified structures visually resembling red blood cells, this research utilized chemical analysis to definitively prove the presence of intact heme, the oxygen-carrying component of hemoglobin. The preservation was possible because the dinosaur was rapidly buried in a low-oxygen, microbially rich environment where the cells were stabilized by a natural manganese oxide mineral called hausmannite.
Origin/History: The fossil was recovered in northeastern Brazil and dates back 115 million years to the Early Cretaceous period. The findings were published in November 2026 by an international team led by Curtin University researchers in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Major Frameworks/Components:
- Hausmannite Mineralization: The chemical time capsule that stabilized delicate cellular structures and biomolecular components, including collagen amino acids, against degradation.
- Deep-Time Biomolecular Preservation: The theoretical model explaining how delicate organic material can survive tens of millions of years longer than previously accepted timelines.
- In Situ Chemical Verification: The analytical framework used to chemically confirm the presence of hemoglobin-derived molecules directly inside vascular bone canals.
Branches of Science: Paleontology, Geochemistry, Evolutionary Physiology, and Astrobiology.
Future Application: The mechanisms of preservation identified in this study will guide astrobiologists in their search for ancient, fossilized biosignatures in hostile conditions on other planets.
Why It Matters: This discovery challenges long-standing assumptions about the biological degradation rate of organic matter. It opens a direct molecular window into the physiology of extinct animals, allowing scientists to study ancient metabolisms, activity levels, and the evolution of blood.
An international research team led by Curtin University has for the first time uncovered unequivocal evidence of fossilized red blood cells and amino acids of collagen, fundamentally reshaping our understanding of fossil preservation and molecular longevity in deep time.
Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, mineralized red blood cells and intact heme biomolecules were discovered in limb bones of a 115-million-year-old theropod dinosaur known as Aratasaurus museunacionali, recovered in northeastern Brazil.
The bones contained numerous red blood cells preserved within vascular canals. While previous studies have reported possible red blood cell structures in fossils, this study is the first to chemically prove the presence of hemoglobin-derived molecules inside the cells. The samples contained preserved heme—the oxygen-carrying component of hemoglobin—which essentially confirmed fossilized blood remains.
Founding Director of Curtin’s WA-Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Center and Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow, John Curtin Distinguished Professor Kliti Grice, was the study’s lead author.
“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.”
The red blood cells were mineralized with “hausmannite,” which acted like a natural time capsule by helping stabilize the cellular structures and biomolecular components (including amino acids of collagen) across such a long geological time.
The study team, including researchers from Curtin’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, believes the exceptional preservation resulted from the dinosaur being rapidly buried in a low-oxygen, microbially rich environment shortly after its death.
“These findings challenge longstanding assumptions that certain biomolecules such as hemoglobin cannot survive deep time,” Professor Grice said. “It opens exciting new avenues for molecular-level paleontology, allowing us to investigate the evolution of blood, metabolism, and even activity levels in ancient animals.”
Head of the School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Professor Martin Van Kranendonk, said the research redefines how molecular structures can be preserved over long time frames or in hostile conditions, which could have implications for astrobiology and the search for ancient life in the cosmos.
“This study exemplifies how coordinated efforts across institutions, continents, and scientific disciplines can unlock extraordinary insights into ancient life,” Professor Van Kranendonk said.
Funding: The research was funded through a 2021 ARC Laureate Fellowship awarded to Professor Grice.
Published in journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Authors: Kliti Grice, Yuta Isaji, Jasmina Wiemann, Paul F. Greenwood, Madison Tripp, Maria A. Diaz Mateus, Stephen F. Poropat, Xiao Sun, Calum P. Fox, Luke M. Brosnan, Renan A. M. Bantim, Lorenz Schwark, Pieter T. Visscher, Nanako O. Ogawa, Julien Demore, Antônio A. F. Saraiva, William D. A. Rickard, Naohiko Ohkouchi, Juliana M. Sayão, Alex I. Holman, Peter Hopper, Robert H. C. Madden, Aaron Dodd, Victor O. Leshyk, Hossein Rahimpour-Bonab, Arthur O. Vicentini, Sebastian Stanley, Lisa Smith, Bree Morgan, and Alexander W. A. Kellner
Source/Credit: Curtin University | Sam Jeremic
Edited by: Scientific Frontline
Reference Number: pal110326_01