Possibly major Dinosaur find - by Haruchai on 14:34 25 Mar 2005
Very interesting.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4379577.stm
Quote:
In the hotly contested field of dino research, the work will be greeted with acclaim and disbelief in equal measure.
What seems certain is that some fairly remarkable conditions must have existed at the Montana site where the T. rex died, 68 million years ago.
Normally when an animal dies, worms and bugs will quickly eat up anything that is soft.
Then, as the remaining bone material gets buried deeper and deeper in the mud, it gets heated, crushed and replaced by minerals - it is turned to stone.
But when Dr Mary Schweitzer, of North Carolina State University, dissolved away the minerals, she found something extraordinary inside.
She discovered transparent, flexible filaments that resemble blood vessels. There were also traces of what look like red blood cells; and others that look like osteocytes, cells that build and maintain bone.
"This is fossilised bone in the sense that it's from an extinct animal but it doesn't have a lot of the characteristics of what people would call a fossil," she told the BBC's Science In Action programme.
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Oooo... Jurrasic Park here we come!
Very interesting.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4379577.stm
Quote:
In the hotly contested field of dino research, the work will be greeted with acclaim and disbelief in equal measure.
What seems certain is that some fairly remarkable conditions must have existed at the Montana site where the T. rex died, 68 million years ago.
Normally when an animal dies, worms and bugs will quickly eat up anything that is soft.
Then, as the remaining bone material gets buried deeper and deeper in the mud, it gets heated, crushed and replaced by minerals - it is turned to stone.
But when Dr Mary Schweitzer, of North Carolina State University, dissolved away the minerals, she found something extraordinary inside.
She discovered transparent, flexible filaments that resemble blood vessels. There were also traces of what look like red blood cells; and others that look like osteocytes, cells that build and maintain bone.
"This is fossilised bone in the sense that it's from an extinct animal but it doesn't have a lot of the characteristics of what people would call a fossil," she told the BBC's Science In Action programme.
-----
Oooo... Jurrasic Park here we come!
Possibly major Dinosaur find - by Brad on 09:03 26 Mar 2005
This is amazing. I would never think blood cells would last so long.
This is amazing. I would never think blood cells would last so long.
Possibly major Dinosaur find - by NoonChild on 08:29 29 Mar 2005
OK...humans preserved in peat and ice I can get my head around, but 60million year old soft tissue...insane.
OK...humans preserved in peat and ice I can get my head around, but 60million year old soft tissue...insane.
Possibly major Dinosaur find - by holsfisher on 08:02 30 Mar 2005
Wow, thats so kool!!! The conditions must have been pretty unique. It makes way for Jurassic Park type research!
Wow, thats so kool!!! The conditions must have been pretty unique. It makes way for Jurassic Park type research!
Possibly major Dinosaur find - by Czarland Junky on 08:40 05 Apr 2005
I'm pretty excited about it myself. I'm such a dinosaur freak. This is the most exciting dinosaur find to surface in a long time.
I'm pretty excited about it myself. I'm such a dinosaur freak. This is the most exciting dinosaur find to surface in a long time.