Guest willy.wonka Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 Thursday, March 24, 2005 WASHINGTON (AP) -- For more than a century, the study of dinosaurs has been limited to fossilized bones. Now, researchers have recovered 70-million-year-old soft tissue, including what may be blood vessels and cells, from a Tyrannosaurus rex. If scientists can isolate proteins from the material, they may be able to learn new details of how dinosaurs lived, said lead researcher Mary Higby Schweitzer of North Carolina State University. "We're doing a lot of stuff in the lab right now that looks promising," she said in a telephone interview. It was recovered dinosaur DNA -- the blueprint for life -- that was featured in the fictional recreation of the ancient animals in the book and film "Jurassic Park." Although that was science fiction, Schweitzer said she was not sure if scientists would be able to isolate dinosaur DNA fragments from the fossilized materials. The soft tissues were recovered from the thighbone of a T. rex, known as MOR 1125, that was found in a sandstone formation in Montana. The dinosaur was about 18 years old when it died. The bone was broken when it was removed from the site. Schweitzer and her colleagues then analyzed the material inside the bone. "The vessels and contents are similar in all respects to blood vessels recovered from ... ostrich bone," they reported in a paper bring published Friday in the journal Science. Because evidence has accumulated in recent years that modern birds descended from dinosaurs, Schweitzer said she chose to compare the dinosaur remains with those of an ostrich, the largest bird available. Brooks Hanson, a deputy editor of Science, noted that there are few examples of soft tissues, except for leaves or petrified wood, that are preserved as fossils, just as there are few discoveries of insects in amber or humans and mammoths in peat or ice. Soft tissues are rare in older finds. "That's why in a 70-million-year-old fossil it is so interesting," he said. Matthew Carrano, curator of dinosaurs at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, said the discovery was "pretty exciting stuff." "You are actually getting into the small-scale biology of the animal, which is something we rarely get the opportunity to look at," said Carrano, who was not part of the research team. In addition, he said, it is a huge opportunity to learn more about how fossils are made, a process that is not fully understood. Richard A. Hengst of Purdue University said the finding "opens the door for research into the protein structure of ancient organisms, if nothing else. While we think that nature is conservative in how things are built, this gives scientists an opportunity to observe this at the chemical and cellular level." Hengst was not part of the research team. John R. Horner of the Museum of the Rockies at Montana State University, said the discovery is "a fantastic specimen," but probably is not unique. Other researchers might find similarly preserved soft tissues if they split open the bones in their collections, said Horner, a co-author of the paper. Most museums, he said, prefer to keep their specimens intact. Schweitzer said that after removing the minerals from the specimen, the remaining tissues were soft and transparent and could be manipulated with instruments. The bone matrix was stretchy and flexible and there were long structures like blood vessels. She added that what appeared to be individual cells were visible, but could not say if they were blood cells. She likened the process to placing a chicken bone in vinegar. The minerals will dissolve, leaving the soft tissues. The research was funded by North Carolina State University and grants from N. Myhrvold and the National Science Foundation. Fibrous regions of the fossil may be elastic soft tissue like ligaments. CNN simply amazing..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neskoner Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 looks like chicken.. we need some dinosaurs in our lifes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Leader Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 OH MAN this is so fucking cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Æ° Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 I think it's about time dinosaurs rule the earth again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistery Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 hahaah! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tough Love Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 All Hail Our New Dinosaur Overlords! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneeightyone Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 I picture a deserted wasteland where i will end up fighting a dinosaur hand to claw. this is gonna be so badass. Jesus Horses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Leader Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 Originally posted by oneeightyone@Mar 29 2005, 11:27 PM I picture a deserted wasteland where i will end up fighting a dinosaur hand to claw. this is gonna be so badass. Jesus Horses. Quoted post I was thinking the same thing. I can't fucking wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8onus Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 this reminds me of the time my buddy took 18 tabs of acid while he was drunk, he tought he saw a teradactile fly by us (i live 18 floors up), he ran in to the bathroom and curled up into the fetal position in the tub....we put in jurassic park and blasted that shit until the curcuit triped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neskoner Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 exactly..time for dino wrestling... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarcasm Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 that's fucking awsome. but at first i thought you were talking about this kind of soft tissue: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellow Feets Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 Cool. What do we do now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Leader Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 18 tabs of acid huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRAMPS Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 i saw in a report on that...that they wouldent consider cloning due to fear of jurassic park happening...especially the third one...that one just sucked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Leader Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 Originally posted by CRAMPS@Mar 29 2005, 11:59 PM ..especially the third one...that one just sucked. Quoted post hahaaha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abracadabra Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 Originally posted by The Leader@Mar 30 2005, 04:37 PM 18 tabs of acid huh? Quoted post Y3@h N199@!!1! Th3N w3 T03 uP deM 8@tHr0oMz @t tH@ cLu8 Y0!!1!1!! yeah, i smell bullshit too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fermentor666 Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 javascript:ShowHide('qr_open','qr_closed'); javascript:ShowHide('qr_open','qr_closed'); Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fermentor666 Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 Hahaha, yes. Thank you ">FAST REPLY" button. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8onus Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 you're fucking cock junkies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justaname Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 discovery channel gonna have an on and on and on programs about shit like this in month to come... all about dino suckers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caffeine Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 As cool as dinosaurs roaming modern day earth would be, its highly unlikely. If anything, the environment dinosaurs lived in is extremely different from today. From the different bacteria species and dramatic change in the atmospheric chemical composition, the dinosaurs woud not be able to survive a minute at most. Its basically like throwing a person on Mars without any safety gear or oxygen and expecting him to survive. Totally different environment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ledzep Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 :yum: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herbivore Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 Originally posted by caffeine@Mar 30 2005, 04:14 AM As cool as dinosaurs roaming modern day earth would be, its highly unlikely. If anything, the environment dinosaurs lived in is extremely different from today. From the different bacteria species and dramatic change in the atmospheric chemical composition, the dinosaurs woud not be able to survive a minute at most. Its basically like throwing a person on Mars without any safety gear or oxygen and expecting him to survive. Totally different environment. Quoted post alright Debbie Downer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamAlmighty Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 Originally posted by Æ°@Mar 30 2005, 06:12 AM I think it's about time dinosaurs rule the earth again. Quoted post No. We should use Irish jockeys to race velociraptors (you know what i mean) and the losers get eaten. Now THAT's putting science to good use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamAlmighty Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 Originally posted by caffeine@Mar 30 2005, 09:14 AM As cool as dinosaurs roaming modern day earth would be, its highly unlikely. If anything, the environment dinosaurs lived in is extremely different from today. From the different bacteria species and dramatic change in the atmospheric chemical composition, the dinosaurs woud not be able to survive a minute at most. Its basically like throwing a person on Mars without any safety gear or oxygen and expecting him to survive. Totally different environment. Quoted post Yea but surely if we're (well, not us personaly . I'm guessing a professional scientist would have more luck) gonna be cloning them then we can alter genetic code so they can survive on today's Earth. Or maybe not I dunno. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Im Broke Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 i want giant lizards to rule the world! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
26SidedCube Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 Remember those dinosaurs on that show Eek! The Cat? Those were some cool motherfuckers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRAMPS Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 Originally posted by 26SidedCube@Mar 30 2005, 05:42 PM Remember those dinosaurs on that show Eek! The Cat? Those were some cool motherfuckers. Quoted post THUNDERLIZARDS RUUUUULE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatalist Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 COOL, now i have an excuse to go buy new dinosaur shoes. LIFE IS GRAND. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fondles Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 oh shit. dinosaur shoes. fuckin fresh, niggas in snake/ostrich/gators gonna be hatin. I got them dinos nigga, what it do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.