Materials Innovation Factory unearths discovery in dinosaur fossil study
Research into prehistoric life was facilitated using equipment at the Henry Royce Institute facility.
Instruments belonging to the Henry Royce Institute found collagen protein traces in a dinosaur bone
© Rafael Trafaniuc/ShutterstockThe Materials Innovation Factory, which hosts advanced analytical chemistry facilities for the Henry Royce Institute at the University of Liverpool, UK, has found collagen protein traces in a dinosaur bone from their own collections.
This is contrary to a longstanding belief that fossilised dinosaur bones no longer contain organic matter due to the fossilisation process.
The fossil originates from a well-preserved Edmontosaurus sacrum excavated from the Upper Cretaceous strata of the South Dakota Hell Creek Formation. It dates from the Mesozoic era – from 252 to 66 million years ago.
The Royce kit was used to conduct sequencing and imaging techniques to confirm the collagen presence within the fossilised bone.
Professor Steve Taylor, Chair of the Mass Spectrometry Research Group at the University of Liverpool’s Department of Electrical Engineering & Electronics, says, ‘This research shows beyond doubt that organic biomolecules, such as proteins like collagen, appear to be present in some fossils.
'Our results have far-reaching implications. Firstly, it refutes the hypothesis that any organics found in fossils must result from contamination. Secondly, it suggests that cross-polarized light microscopy images of fossil bones, collected for a century, should be revisited…Lastly, the findings inform the intriguing mystery of how these proteins have managed to persist in fossils for so long.’
