# Ancient dinosaur bone yields fossilised blood cells

> Scientists say they have found fossilised red blood cells and heme in a 115-million-year-old dinosaur bone from Brazil, a discovery that could transform how we study prehistoric life.
- Title: Ancient dinosaur bone yields fossilised blood cells | Shortify
- Summary: Scientists say they have found fossilised red blood cells and heme in a 115-million-year-old dinosaur bone from Brazil, a discovery that could transform how…
- Keywords: aratasaurus, dinosaur fossils, red blood cells, heme, brazil, curtin university, palaeontology, fossilisation, news, world, Ancient, dinosaur
- Source: the Guardian — https://theguardian.com/science/2026/nov/02/fossilised-red-blood-cells-aratasaurus-dinosaurs-bone
- Published: 2026-11-02T20:00:27+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: aratasaurus, dinosaur fossils, red blood cells, heme, brazil, curtin university, palaeontology, fossilisation, news, world
## Dinosaur bone yields ancient blood cells
Scientists examining a 115-million-year-old Aratasaurus bone from north-eastern Brazil found small round structures resembling red blood cells in channels where blood vessels once ran.
## Chemical tests confirm presence of heme
Chemical analysis identified heme, the organic compound that allows haemoglobin in blood to carry oxygen around the body, in the fossilised structures.
## Discovery described as world first
Prof Kliti Grice at Curtin University in Western Australia led the research. She said fossilised red blood cells with distinct chemistry related to heme have never been found in situ in any fossil, let alone…

> Fossilised red blood cells with distinct chemistry related to heme have never been found in situ in any fossil, let alone a dinosaur. This is a world first.
## Manganese compound may have preserved cells
A manganese compound called hausmannite formed in and around the blood cells may have stabilised them before fossilisation, according to Grice. The same process might have preserved amino acid building blocks for collagen.
## Sceptic questions the cell identification
Prof Mary Schweitzer at North Carolina State University doubts the structures are red blood cells.Dinosaur red blood cells should have a nuclear bulge making them dome-like on both sides, but the structures found are concave.
## Schweitzer accepts heme and collagen findings
Schweitzer was more persuaded by the discovery of heme and collagen amino acids in the bone. She said conventional wisdom that all biological material disappears within a million years is being routinely challenged.

> The conventional wisdom in palaeontology that all endogenous organics would disappear in a million years or less is being routinely challenged, and will continue to be as technological approaches to palaeontological specimens are more routinely applied.
## Grice warns against extraordinary claims
Grice urges caution about other biological material in fossil collections.She said her work does not imply that large molecules like proteins or DNA survive in ancient fossils, and that extraordinary claims need extraordinary analytical evidence.

> Any extraordinary claim needs extraordinary analytical evidence. The aim isn't to find Jurassic Park DNA, it's to determine how much genuine molecular information deep time can preserve.
## Key takeaway

Researchers identified fossilised red blood cells and heme in a 115-million-year-old Aratasaurus bone from Brazil, potentially opening new ways to study dinosaur biology.