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Phoenix666 [soylentnews.org] writes:

A 75 million-year-old dinosaur fossil [trove.com] -- and a poorly preserved one, at that -- may have yielded traces of intriguing soft tissue. Scientists believe they've spotted blood cells and collagen, the protein that makes up connective tissue in animals. Their findings were published Tuesday in Nature Communications.

Years ago, researcher Mary Schweitzer found what she believed were preserved blood vessels in a T. rex bone, a finding that has since been supported by molecular analysis. But unlike the specimen Schweitzer worked with, the fossils used in the new study were poorly preserved, which suggests that soft-tissue preservation might not be as uncommon as we'd thought. However, further evidence is needed to confirm that the structures are what they appear to be.

It's exciting to think that if we can find more like this we can greatly expand our understanding of how life on Earth has evolved on the most fundamental level, such as seeing if certain traits were selected for given the environmental conditions represented in the same strata the fossils came from.

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