This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: 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, reshaping our understanding of fossil preservation and molecular longevity in deep time. In a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers discovered mineralized red blood cells and intact heme biomolecules in limb bones of a 115-million-year-old theropod dinosaur known as Aratasaurus museunacionali, recovered in northwestern 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.
The study's lead author was Kliti Grice, founding director of Curtin's WA-Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre, an Australian Research Council laureate fellow and a John Curtin Distinguished Professor. "To detect intact heme-derived molecules in 115-million-year-old red blood cells is astonishing: This really is a landmark discovery," 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 and 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," 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." The head of the School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 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," Van Kranendonk said. Grice, Kliti, Heme signatures in mineralized red blood cells within vascular canals of a 115-million-year-old dinosaur bone, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2026). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2614248123. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2614248123 Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Swati Mestri holds a bachelor's degree in Electronics Engineering and has worked as a content editor since 2019.
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