The possibility of finding Dinosaur DNA

steddyeddy

http://www.radiotimes.com/episode/cm269m/horizon--horizon-dinosaurs---the-hunt-for-life

Brilliant programme, Horizon on BBC 2 right now about the discovery of soft tissue in a T-rex skeleton. This raises the possibility of finding dinosaur DNA which would be the holy grail of palaeontology. Get watching if you can guys!

steddyeddy

Just seen that the red blood cells found that they are nucleated like reptiles and birds unlike mammals. For animals of their size this comes as a surprise to me. Mammal RBCs are anucleated in part to increase the surface area for gas diffusion. Sorry if that was well known but I don't know a lot about dinosaurs!

Rubecula

Watched the program. Looks promising for fossils from Mongolia (Gobi Desert) if they can be had before looters get at them.

Long way from getting a full DNA sequence though.

I also notice Jack Horner in there spouting about T.rex being a vulture equivalent.

Adam Khor

steddyeddy wrote: »

Just seen that the red blood cells found that they are nucleated like reptiles and birds unlike mammals. For animals of their size this comes as a surprise to me. Mammal RBCs are anucleated in part to increase the surface area for gas diffusion. Sorry if that was well known but I don't know a lot about dinosaurs!

This was actually a plot point in the Jurassic Park novel if I remember clearly. Dinos could be cloned precisely because the blood cells were nucleated.

I haven´t seen the program, did they say anything about the hadrosaur soft tissue as well? I remember they found Edmontosaurus (or Brachylophosaurus?) blood cells and tissue before they found T-rex's...

steddyeddy

Adam Khor wrote: »

This was actually a plot point in the Jurassic Park novel if I remember clearly. Dinos could be cloned precisely because the blood cells were nucleated.

I haven´t seen the program, did they say anything about the hadrosaur soft tissue as well? I remember they found Edmontosaurus (or Brachylophosaurus?) blood cells and tissue before they found T-rex's...

I didn't see that bit Adam but maybe they did! Jack Horner was on it again comparing T-rex to a vulture though.

Rubecula

Adam Khor wrote: »

This was actually a plot point in the Jurassic Park novel if I remember clearly. Dinos could be cloned precisely because the blood cells were nucleated.

I haven´t seen the program, did they say anything about the hadrosaur soft tissue as well? I remember they found Edmontosaurus (or Brachylophosaurus?) blood cells and tissue before they found T-rex's...

No, didn't mention it only thing they mentioned other than T.rex was Tarbosaurus

Adam Khor

They found Tarbosaurus blood cells? :eek:

Rubecula

ummm no

They said it showed white bones instead of stained ones due to conditions in Mongolia. The Gobi was a desert 68 million years ago too. But the Tarbo in the museum was no good as the biological stuff will have been compromised.

Then they went out into the desert and said wonderful things like "there's a fossil, there's a bone... oh look a plastic bottle." Then they moaned about fossil hunters and pissed off.