This past weekend I watched an episode of a Science Channel program via my Comcast OnDemand that dealt with how scientists might one day bring back dinosaurs. The reality would likely look far different from Jurassic Park, according to the program.
Something in the program that showed just how out-of-touch I've been over the past several years with paleontology was that supposed soft tissue had been recovered from a T. Rex fossil. This shocked me. How could soft tissue, even encased in rock, survive for 70 million years (assuming that's an accurate figure)? Perhaps in such a state, locked completely away from any oxygen, it would be possible (but what about anaerobic bacteria?). Also, wouldn't the fossilization process have had to have been incredibly fast to keep any soft tissue from rotting away?
Researching this subject further, I discovered that just last year papers were published from studies that showed that the closest living relative to the T. Rex would be the chicken. This information was derived from a study of the collagen peptides found inside the fossilized bones.
The matter doesn't end there, though. Just last month researchers published the results of a study that indicate that the soft material taken from the fossils is actually a bacterial biofilm, and not dinosaur tissue. That raises other questions, though. If this is biofilm, how long has it been in there, and how did it survive the ages? Also, what happened to the aforementioned study indicating the presence of collagen peptides, which should not be present in biofilm?
See Also:
Scientists Find Soft Tissue in T. rex Fossil
Was T. Rex Really King of the Lizards—or Just a Big, Carnivorous Chicken?
Presumed dinosaur flesh may just be bacterial sludge
I am seriously behind in my blog reading, so I'm just getting to this. And I really don't have anything that will add to the conversation except to say this ...
ReplyDeleteWhile we were in Vermont this summer we noticed a lot of wild turkeys. My husband and I both grew up there and have never seen wild turkeys there before, despite going back every year. So this was novel. We'd see flocks of them grazing in the fields by the road. He said they looked like tiny dinosaurs and ... he was right ... they did. I think chickens do too. There's something very primeval about their heads especially.
Sonja,
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting.
Look at an emu's scaly claws sometime, or any birds, and you have to wonder.