T. rex bone contained collagen.
Joel Kontinen
Can dinosaur proteins and soft tissue be preserved for tens of millions of years? Many researchers would think that it is impossible.
A fresh study confirmed that a Tyrannosaurus rex bone contained traces of proteins. This is causing a headache for those who believed dinosaurs roamed the earth millions of years ago.
In 2007 researchers found collagen in the bone of a T. rex that was assumed to be 68 million years old. Skeptics believed it was due to contamination. They assumed that the collagen originated from other fossils in the laboratory where they were analysed.
Recently, Marshall Bern, Brett Phinney and David Goldberg analysed this T. rex bone by mass spectrometry, confirming that it had traces of hemoglobin and collagen. The study will be published in the September issue of the Journal of Proteonic Research.
According to Bern and his colleagues, at least some of the proteins were very likely original, stemming from the T. rex.
It is basically impossible for collagen to be preserved for 68 million years. Mainstream researchers are nevertheless reluctant to give up the belief in millions of years although several recent discoveries suggest that they never existed.
In addition, collagen was recently also discovered in a Hadrosaur assumed to be 80 million years old.
Sources:
Bern, Marshall, Brett S. Phinney ja David Goldberg. 2009. Reanalysis of Tyrannosaurus rex Mass Spectra. Journal of Proteonic Research.
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/pr900349r
EurekAlert! 2009. Reexamination of T. rex verifies disputed biochemical remains. (29 July) http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-07/acs-rot072909.php
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