Cretaceous dinosaur bone contains recent organic material and provides an environment conducive to microbial communities
Fossils were thought to lack original organic molecules, but chemical analyses show that some can survive. Dinosaur bone has been proposed to preserve collagen, osteocytes, and blood vessels. However, proteins and labile lipids are diagenetically unstable, and bone is a porous open system, allowing...
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2019-06-01
|
Series: | eLife |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/46205 |