Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 1 hr ago
115-million-year-old dinosaur fossil yields possible red blood cells
Researchers found possible red blood cells in a 115-million-year-old dinosaur fossil from Brazil.
The cells came from a leg bone of Aratasaurus museunacionali, a young theropod dinosaur whose fossils were discovered in 2008.
Earlier claims of dinosaur cells have been difficult to confirm, in part because contamination can resemble ancient biological material.
The team combined microscope images with chemical tests and found heme B, a molecule linked to oxygen-carrying blood, inside the bone.
The combined evidence supports a blood-cell identification and helps rule out contamination from surrounding material.
The finding challenges the idea that such delicate biological traces cannot survive for so long and may help researchers study ancient animals and how blood evolved.
The researchers say further work could examine other ordinary-looking fossils in museum collections for similar evidence.
Researchers found structures identified as possible red blood cells in a 115-million-year-old dinosaur fossil from Brazil.
The cells were inside blood-vessel canals in the leg bone of an Aratasaurus museunacionali.
Chemical analyses detected heme B, a molecule associated with oxygen-carrying blood, and helped distinguish the structures from potential contaminants.
The researchers say the find may be the oldest evidence of dinosaur red blood cells and could help guide studies of other fossils.
- Who
- A team led by scientists at Curtin University, including researcher Kliti Grice.
- What
- The team identified structures interpreted as possible fossilized red blood cells and blood-related molecules in a dinosaur bone.
- When
- The dinosaur lived around 115 million years ago; the study was published on November 2, 2026.
- Where
- In a fossil found in Brazil, described as coming from a mine and from present-day northeastern Brazil.
- Why
- The researchers analyzed the structures to test whether they were blood cells rather than contaminants and to study how biological material can be preserved.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The Aratasaurus fossil was found in Brazil.
Articles reported the study’s findings on possible red blood cells in the fossil.
- Fossil age
- About 115 million years
- Dinosaur
- Aratasaurus museunacionali
- Fossil location
- Brazil
- Study team
- Led by scientists at Curtin University
- Chemical evidence
- Heme B detected in the bone extract
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What people are saying
Our approach brings together microscopic observations with chemical evidence associated with the structures. The convergence of independent lines of evidence is much more powerful than saying, 'this looks like a red blood cell'.
But as a scientist, excitement has to be followed very quickly by skepticism. The more extraordinary the observation, the more carefully you have to test alternative explanations.
This really is a landmark discovery,
No one has ever seen dinosaur red blood cells in high resolution before.