Fossilized Dinosaur Blood Cells Found in Brazil
Researchers found preserved red blood cells and hemoglobin-derived molecules in the bones of a 115-million-year-old theropod.
Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Geology
Scientists report finding fossilized red blood cells and heme inside the bones of Aratasaurus museunacionali, a theropod dinosaur that lived about 115 million years ago in Brazil. The study was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Why it matters
The discovery suggests that soft biological material can survive in deep time under the right burial conditions. The findings may also have implications for astrobiology.
The analysis covers a single 115-million-year-old theropod specimen found in northwestern Brazil, with the dinosaur's age placing it in the Cretaceous period. The extraction does not report how many specimens were tested or whether comparable preservation has been documented elsewhere.
The players
Curtin University
An Australian research university in Perth that led the study on the fossilized dinosaur blood cells.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
A peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the United States National Academy of Sciences that carried the study.
The details
Researchers found preserved red blood cells within the vascular canals of the bones, with heme detected inside them and mineralized by hausmannite, a manganese oxide mineral. Amino acids associated with collagen protein were also found, and the team attributes the preservation to rapid burial in a low-oxygen, microbe-rich environment.
Timeline
Approximately 115 million years ago: Aratasaurus museunacionali lived in Brazil.
Monday, November 2, 2026: The study was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Big Picture
The find extends a line of work begun by Mary Schweitzer's 2005 reports of soft tissue and vessels in a Tyrannosaurus rex femur, pushing the evidence toward cellular and molecular detail. It shows that recovering original biology from deep-time fossils is becoming a repeatable research question rather than a single anomaly.
The research could eventually inform how scientists search for preserved biomolecules in ancient rocks and fossils. Its astrobiology implications are still speculative and will depend on whether similar preservation is confirmed in other specimens.
The takeaway
Preserved molecules can survive for over a hundred million years when a carcass is buried quickly in low-oxygen conditions. Readers following paleontology can watch whether similar findings appear in other fossil specimens.
Further reading
Explore more fossil and rock-record coverage in the Geology section.
