據(jù)5月1日的《科學(xué)》雜志報道說，科學(xué)家們在一個有著8000萬年歷史的鴨嘴龍化石中探測到了血管和其它的結(jié)締組織,。

Mary Schweitzer及其同僚從加拿大短冠龍Brachylophosaurus canadensis (標(biāo)本 MOR 2598)的后肢中發(fā)現(xiàn)了一條單一的股骨,。 他們沒有在野外對該化石進行挖掘,，而是對其及其外包裹的一層厚厚的沙石層進行了封存，然后將其轉(zhuǎn)移到實驗室中以做進一步的發(fā)掘,，并防止發(fā)生標(biāo)本的污染,。 這些標(biāo)本還被送往多個實驗室中進行獨立的分析。

研究人員應(yīng)用掃描電子顯微鏡來檢查該組織的外觀和結(jié)構(gòu),，他們還開展了質(zhì)譜儀和抗體結(jié)合實驗來辨識其組織蛋白,。 質(zhì)譜分析結(jié)果表明，MOR 2598含有膠原蛋白,，其氨基酸序列與鳥類膠原蛋白的氨基酸序列非常相似,，這對在恐龍與鳥類之間存在著密切的進化上的相互關(guān)系提供了進一步的支持。

該鴨嘴龍化石比一個幾年前發(fā)現(xiàn)的霸王龍（T. rex）化石（請詳Science 25 March 2005 307: 1952-1955）要早1300萬年,。該霸王龍化石的發(fā)現(xiàn)有著類似的爭議,。(生物谷Bioon.com)

生物谷推薦原始出處：

Science 1 May 2009: DOI: 10.1126/science.1165069

Biomolecular Characterization and Protein Sequences of the Campanian Hadrosaur B. canadensis

Mary H. Schweitzer,1,2,* Wenxia Zheng,1 Chris L. Organ,3 Recep Avci,4 Zhiyong Suo,4 Lisa M. Freimark,5 Valerie S. Lebleu,6,7 Michael B. Duncan,6,7 Matthew G. Vander Heiden,8 John M. Neveu,9 William S. Lane,9 John S. Cottrell,10 John R. Horner,11 Lewis C. Cantley,5,12 Raghu Kalluri,6,7,13 John M. Asara5,14,*

Molecular preservation in non-avian dinosaurs is controversial. We present multiple lines of evidence that endogenous proteinaceous material is preserved in bone fragments and soft tissues from an 80-million-year-old Campanian hadrosaur, Brachylophosaurus canadensis [Museum of the Rockies (MOR) 2598]. Microstructural and immunological data are consistent with preservation of multiple bone matrix and vessel proteins, and phylogenetic analyses of Brachylophosaurus collagen sequenced by mass spectrometry robustly support the bird-dinosaur clade, consistent with an endogenous source for these collagen peptides. These data complement earlier results from Tyrannosaurus rex (MOR 1125) and confirm that molecular preservation in Cretaceous dinosaurs is not a unique event.

1 North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
2 North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh, NC 27601, USA.
3 Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
4 Imaging and Chemical Analysis Laboratory, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA.
5 Division of Signal Transduction, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
6 Division of Matrix Biology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
7 Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
8 Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
9 Faculty of Arts and Sciences Center for Systems Biology, Harvard Univeristy, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
10 Matrix Science Ltd., 64 Baker Street, London, W1U 7GB, UK.
11 Museum of the Rockies, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA.
12 Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
13 Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology and Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
14 Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.