title: Fibres and cellular structures preserved in 75-million-year-old dinosaur specimens.
abstract: Exceptionally preserved organic remains are known throughout the vertebrate fossil record, and recently, evidence has emerged that such soft tissue might contain original components. We examined samples from eight Cretaceous dinosaur bones using nano-analytical techniques; the bones are not exceptionally preserved and show no external indication of soft tissue. In one sample, we observe structures consistent with endogenous collagen fibre remains displaying ∼ 67 nm banding, indicating the possible preservation of the original quaternary structure. Using ToF-SIMS, we identify amino-acid fragments typical of collagen fibrils. Furthermore, we observe structures consistent with putative erythrocyte remains that exhibit mass spectra similar to emu whole blood. Using advanced material characterization approaches, we find that these putative biological structures can be well preserved over geological timescales, and their preservation is more common than previously thought. The preservation of protein over geological timescales offers the opportunity to investigate relationships, physiology and behaviour of long extinct animals.
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Materials, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK [2].
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bertazzo
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Susannah C R
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Maidment
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Materials, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK [2] Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK [3] Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Charalambos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kallepitis
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fearn
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Materials, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK [2] Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK [3] Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Molly M
authors.identifier: 000000027335266X
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Stevens
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Materials, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK [2] Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK [3] Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Hai-nan
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Xie
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D025061:Dinosaurs; D005580:Fossils; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D018629:Spectrometry, Mass, Secondary Ion