“Fossilised red blood cells with distinct chemistry related to heme have never been found in situ in any fossil, let alone a dinosaur. This is a world first.”

The Guardian · Nov 1 · Scientists find 115-million-year-old fossilised red blood cells in dinosaur bone

“To detect intact heme derived molecules in 115-million-year-old red blood cells is astonishing: this really is a landmark discovery.”

Curtin University news release · Nov 1 · Scientists find 115-million-year-old fossilised red blood cells in dinosaur bone

“It not only extends the known fossil record of blood, but also offers a direct molecular window into the physiology of long-extinct animals so we may better understand them and the world they lived in.”

Curtin University news release · Nov 1 · Scientists find 115-million-year-old fossilised red blood cells in dinosaur bone

“I was jumping up and down. I ran up to my head of school's office and was so excited that he gave me a whisky to calm me down. No one has ever seen dinosaur red blood cells in high resolution before.”

New Scientist · Nov 1 · Scientists find 115-million-year-old fossilised red blood cells in dinosaur bone

“These findings challenge longstanding assumptions that certain biomolecules such as haemoglobin cannot survive deep time.”

Curtin University news release · Nov 1 · Scientists find 115-million-year-old fossilised red blood cells in dinosaur bone

“There's drawers and drawers of fossil material, which don't look very nice. This kind of work opens up a whole new opportunity to unlock those collections and bring modern technology and molecular techniques to these specimens.”

New Scientist · Nov 1 · Scientists find 115-million-year-old fossilised red blood cells in dinosaur bone