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Dinosaur Soft Tissue

11 October 2017
Biology

At https://phys.org/print426835053.html … Dinosaur blood – new research urges caution regarding fossilised soft tissue. It seems that previous claims showing the preservation of keratic protein in dinosaur fossils are likely to be false. Note the word likely. Electron microscopy was used after widely publicised claims of dinosaur blood in fossil bones were shown in the research to be 'likely'  untrue. Decay and mild maturation resulted in some intriguing in depradation patterns but the results seem to show that during burial and fossilation the keretic degrades into foul smelling water soluble fluid that can easily was away from the fossil. It goes on to say the purported blood cells in dinosaur bones are likely to be degraded organics – frommicrobes that invaded the cavities in the bones rather than actual blood cells. Okay, that pours cold water on some of the claims in recent months – but what if they were blood cells? What does this say about the mode of fossilisation?

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