Thursday 12 November 2009

Soft Tissue Found in an ”18 Million Year” Old Salamander



Soft tissue was found in an ”18 Million Year” old salamander fossil. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.




Joel Kontinen

After an animal dies, its soft tissue is destroyed rather quickly. However, researchers at the University College Dublin report that they have found muscle tissue in a salamander fossil estimated to be 18 million years old.

Dr. Maria McNamara, a geologist at UCD, and colleagues reported their discovery in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. They analysed a salamander fossil found in southern Spain carefully to ensure that their sensational discovery was not due to contamination.

In 1997 Mary Schweitzer, a paleontologist at North Carolina State University, found remnants of red blood cells in T. rex bone.

At the time, evolutionists were reluctant to believe that the discovery was genuine but later Schweitzer and her research team found remnants of haemoglobin and collagen in a Tyrannosaur estimated to be 68 million years old.

Earlier this year Dr. Schweitzer and her colleagues found collagen, haemoglobin, elastin and laminin in a Hadrosaur assumed to be 80 million years old.

The newest discovery makes it more difficult to believe in
millions of years of earth history.


Sources:

Ancient muscle tissue extracted from 18 million year old fossil. Physorg. com. (5 November)
http://www.physorg.com/news176660912.html


Wieland, Carl. 2009.
Best ever find of soft tissue (muscle and blood) in a fossil. (11 November) comment at the Creation. com website of Creation Ministries International.