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Paleontologists analyzed the cartilaginous material of Caudipteryx, an oviraptorosaurid dinosaur that lived in what is found in China today around 125 million years ago (early Cretaceous) and was part of the famous Jehol Biota.
Photograph and line drawing of Caudipteryx specimen. Image credit: Zheng et al., doi: 10.1038 / s42003-021-02627-8.
“Geological data has accumulated over the years and has shown that the preservation of fossils in the Jehol Biota is exceptional due to the fine volcanic ash which buried the carcasses and preserved them down to the cellular level,” said the Dr Zhiheng Li, paleontologist at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
In the study, Dr. Li and his colleagues examined a complete and well-preserved specimen of Caudipteryx.
The specimen was collected from the Yixian Formation near Chaoyang City in Liaoning Province of China.
To study the preservation of chondrocytes – the only cells found in healthy cartilage – in the fossil, the researchers used a range of microscopy methods that complement each other.
“We isolated some cells and stained them with a chemical used in biological labs around the world,” they said.
“This purple chemical, called hematoxylin, is known to bind to cell nuclei.”
“After staining the dinosaur material, a dinosaur cell showed a purple nucleus with darker purple strands.”
Photographs of stained paraffin sections of the cartilage of Caudipteryx (a, c, d, g, h) and that of an existing chicken (b, e, f). Image credit: Zheng et al., doi: 10.1038 / s42003-021-02627-8.
“This means that the 125-million-year-old dinosaur cell has such a well-preserved nucleus that it retains original biomolecules and chromatin strands.”
“The chromatin in the cells of all living organisms on Earth is made up of tightly packed DNA molecules.”
“The results thus provide preliminary data suggesting that original dinosaur DNA remains may still be preserved. “
This is only the second example of fossilized chromatin threads in vertebrate material.
“These data show that some of the original nuclear biochemistry is preserved in this dinosaur cartilage material and further support the hypothesis that cartilage is highly prone to nuclear fossilization and a perfect candidate for better understanding preservation. of DNA over time, ”the scientists said.
The results were published in the journal Communications biology.
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X. Zheng et al. 2021. Nuclear preservation in the cartilage of the Jehol dinosaur Caudipteryx. Common Biol 4, 1125; doi: 10.1038 / s42003-021-02627-8
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