A dinosaur hip bone from South Dakota still holds traces of its original proteins, 66 million years after the animal died. Scientists at the University of Liverpool found collagen, the main protein in bone, inside a fossilized Edmontosaurus sacrum. The discovery overturns the long-held belief that fossilization destroys all organic material.
Collagen detected inside a duck-billed dinosaur's hip bone
The fossil came from the Hell Creek Formation in South Dakota, a site famous for yielding dinosaurs from the very end of the Cretaceous Period. Edmontosaurus was a large plant eater that lived alongside Tyrannosaurus rex. The specimen weighed 22 kilograms and was part of the dinosaur's hip region. Researchers used protein sequencing and several forms of mass spectrometry to identify collagen fragments embedded within the bone. They also found hydroxyproline, an amino acid strongly linked to collagen, which helped confirm the molecules were genuine and not contamination.
A 30-year debate over dinosaur soft tissues
Claims of preserved organic material in dinosaur fossils have divided paleontologists since the early 2000s. Some scientists argued that reported proteins and soft tissues were modern contamination or bacterial residue. The most famous earlier case came in 2005, when paleontologist Mary Schweitzer reported soft tissue structures inside a T. rex fossil. The new study adds powerful evidence that original biomolecules can survive over vast timescales. Professor Steve Taylor, who led the mass spectrometry work, said the results refute the hypothesis that any organics found in fossils must result from contamination.
Local people in South Dakota have long valued the Hell Creek Formation for its rich fossil deposits. The discovery matters because it changes what scientists think is possible. If collagen can last 66 million years, other dinosaur fossils may hold similar traces of their original biology. That could open new ways to study how dinosaurs lived, grew, and evolved. The finding does not prove that all dinosaur fossils contain organic molecules, but it shows that some do, and that the tools exist to find them.
