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EFE .- British scientists have found any traces of cells and collagen in dinosaur fossils with an age of 75 million years , according to a study published today in the journal Nature Communications.
The researchers found structures that could be red blood cells and collagen fibers similar to dinosaur bones belonging to the Cretaceous period – that extends from the end of the Jurassic period (about 145 million ago years old) to the beginning of the Paleocene (65 million years ago) -.
This finding shows that the remains of organic structures in fossils p ueden be more common than previously thought.
Before had localized soft tissue components such as cells and molecules like proteins, in other fossils tens of millions of years old, but only in exceptionally well preserved specimens.
The identification of these tissues, also he raised controversy in the scientific community.
For a long time it was believed that the protein molecules decomposed in a short period of time, and are not kept for more than 4 million years.
Sergio Bertazzo and Susannah Maidment, researchers from Imperial College London who led the work, have reported the discovery of organic structures in remains of eight dinosaurs of the Cretaceous, the last period the Mesozoic Era.
Some of these bones, belonging to one of the dinosaurs, similar to contain collagen, a protein having characteristically a braided structures and is formed by essential amino acids.
The study could be key to paleontologists, it opens the door to understanding the biology of prehistoric animal and the relationship between different species.
Bertazzo has called for caution before the findings and said they need further research to confirm “what we are seeing in the fragments of dinosaur.”
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