Tyrannosaurus Rex Soft Tissues Discovered
Posted on March 27, 2005
MSNBC.com reported on Thursday that a Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil recovered from sandstone contains soft tissues, including blood vessels and possibly cells. A more recent article from Discovery reports that cells have been found and they are similar to ostrich cells: "The dinosaur and the ostrich vessels also held what could be nuclei of so-called endothelial cells, which line blood vessels." Somehow thinking of the terrifying T-rex as similar to an Ostrich makes them not quite as intimidating, but things would probably be much difference if you were facing one -- even if it was running like an ostrich.
The New York Times reports that children are already thinking of the implications of the discovery. Ryan Butler, an 8-year-old from Corpus Christi, Tex. told the New York Times: "I bet if you took those cells and tried to clone them, you could clone them." And Andrew Becker, 9, of the Upper East Side told the Times: "I think personally that they're going to be able to clone a woolly mammoth in the next 20 years," he continued, his feet swinging back and forth from the chair. "I hear they're working on things -- nano-robots -- that can repair freezer burn."