Dinosaur remains can preserve their original organic molecules—settling a 30-year-old scientific debate about whether such compounds are destroyed during fossilization.
This is the revelation of a study from the University of California, Los Angeles, and the U.K.’s University of Liverpool after researchers detected collagen in a Cretaceous-aged dinosaur hip bone. Collagen is a structural protein that forms the primary building block of bones, ligaments, muscles, skin, tendons and other connective tissues.
“Our results have far-reaching implications,” said study author Steve Taylor, a University of Liverpool professor, in a statement.
For one, “it refutes the hypothesis that any organics found in fossils must result from contamination,” he said.
The findings, the team explains, may pave the way toward fresh analyses of existing fossils and new insights into not only dinosaurs but other forms of ancient life.
In their study, Taylor and his colleagues revealed the preservation of original collagen remnants in the fossilized sacrum, or hip bone, of an Edmontosaurus, a duck-billed species of dinosaur, from the University of Liverpool’s collections.
(Edmontosaurus is thought to have been one of the last non-avian dinosaurs to ever live—alongside such recognizable names as Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus.)
The exceptionally well-preserved 48.5-pound specimen, which dates back some 68 million to 66 million years to the Upper Cretaceous, was unearthed from the Hell Creek Formation. This rock formation, which is famous among paleontologists for its dinosaur fossils, was deposited by streams on a coastal plain in a subtropical climate in what we know today as South Dakota.
The team subjected the fossil hip to various analytical techniques, including advanced forms of mass spectrometry that can reveal the composition of a given material.
The analysis revealed the presence in the fossil specimen of the amino acid hydroxyproline, which, when it comes to bones, is found only in collagen.
“This research shows beyond doubt organic biomolecules—such as proteins like collagen—appear to be present in some fossils,” Taylor said. The finding, he added, may encourage paleontologists to revisit archived microscope images of fossil bones.
“These images may reveal intact patches of bone collagen, potentially offering a ready-made trove of fossil candidates for further protein analysis,” he said. “This could unlock new insights into dinosaurs—for example, revealing connections between dinosaur species that remain unknown.”
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Reference
Tuinstra, L., Thomas, B., Robinson, S., Pawlak, K., Elezi, G., Faull, K. F., & Taylor, S. (2025). Evidence for endogenous collagen in Edmontosaurus fossil bone. Analytical Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.4c03115
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