Heme compounds in dinosaur trabecular bone

^*Department of Biology and Museum of the Rockies, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717; ^†Department of Medicine and Walther Oncology Center, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202; ^‡Department of Chemistry, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071; Departments of ^§Chemistry and Biochemistry and ^¶Microbiology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717

Abstract

Six independent lines of evidence point to the existence of heme-containing compounds and/or hemoglobin breakdown products in extracts of trabecular tissues of the large theropod dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex. These include signatures from nuclear magnetic resonance and electron spin resonance that indicate the presence of a paramagnetic compound consistent with heme. In addition, UV/visible spectroscopy and high performance liquid chromatography data are consistent with the Soret absorbance characteristic of this molecule. Resonance Raman profiles are also consistent with a modified heme structure. Finally, when dinosaurian tissues were extracted for protein fragments and were used to immunize rats, the resulting antisera reacted positively with purified avian and mammalian hemoglobins. The most parsimonious explanation of this evidence is the presence of blood-derived hemoglobin compounds preserved in the dinosaurian tissues.

Footnotes

Norman R. Pace, University of California, Berkeley, CA
ABBREVIATIONS:

NMR,

nuclear magnetic resonance;

RR,

resonance Raman spectroscopy;

ESR,

electron spin resonance;

TBS,

Tris-buffered saline