Curtin University study discovers 115-million-year-old dinosaur red blood cells and heme biomolecules

An international research team led by Curtin University has confirmed the discovery of 115-million-year-old fossilised red blood cells and heme biomolecules in a Brazilian theropod, proving that delicate organic structures can survive across deep geological time

Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the study presents the first unambiguous chemical proof of haemoglobin-derived heme biomolecules inside mineralised fossil cells, fundamentally reshaping scientific models of molecular longevity and deep-time fossil preservation.

Biochemical preservation and mineralisation mechanics

While previous paleontological studies have reported potential cell-like structures in ancient bones, this study provides definitive chemical verification of biological blood remains preserved within vascular canals:

Heme identification

Mass spectrometry and geochemical analysis identified intact heme signatures—the iron-bearing, oxygen-transporting cofactor of haemoglobin—confirming the biological origin of the preserved cellular structures.

Hausmannite encapsulation

The red blood cells were mineralised with hausmannite (a manganese oxide mineral), which acted as a crystalline micro-capsule that shielded cellular membranes and collagen amino acids from thermal and chemical degradation over 115 million years.

Taphonomic environment

Researchers determined that the exceptional preservation occurred due to rapid post-mortem burial in a low-oxygen, microbially rich aquatic environment in present-day northeastern Brazil.

Implications for molecular palaeontology and astrobiology

The verification of 115-million-year-old organic biomolecules opens new research avenues across multiple scientific disciplines:

1. Evolutionary physiology:

   • Direct chemical access to ancient blood cells allows scientists to investigate metabolic rates, thermoregulation, and cardiovascular evolution in non-avian dinosaurs.

2. Rewriting molecular limits:

   • The findings overturn long-held assumptions that complex biological proteins and pigments strictly degrade within a few hundred thousand to a few million years.

3. Astrobiological applications:

   • Understanding how hausmannite encapsulation preserves cellular structures under extreme conditions offers new target signatures for detecting potential extinct microbial biosignatures on Mars and other planetary bodies.