HEME COMPOUNDS IN DINOSAUR TRABECULAR BONE

Six independent lines of evidence point to the existence of heme-conta ining compounds and/or hemoglobin breakdown products in extracts of tr abecular tissues of the large theropod dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex, The se include signatures from nuclear magnetic resonance and electron spi n resonance that indicate the presence of a paramagnetic compound cons istent with heme. In addition, UV/visible spectroscopy and high perfor mance liquid chromatography data are consistent with the Soret absorba nce 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 a nd mammalian hemoglobins. The most parsimonious explanation of this ev idence is the presence of blood-derived hemoglobin compounds preserved in the dinosaurian tissues.