Back to life
It's actually happening. They have found another way to try and bring a dinosaur back to life. I don't think scientists are going to stop until they can realistically bring a dinosaur back to life and with this new discovery of potential DNA found in a 68 MYA pregnant Tyrannosaurus Rex it might be a possibility. Trust me... I would give almost anything to see a live dinosaur but can they hold off on the ones that can kill us? more specifically can they hold off on bringing back a dinosaur with the strongest bite force of any land animal in the history of life on earth.
That being said. The process these scientists are going through to get to this point is impressive in itself. First they discovered a Bone in the fossilized Rex that only birds have and only developed when the animal is pregnant. Called a medullary bone. This discovery may help us learn more about the evolution of egg-laying in birds, and could be used to bring the ancient beast back from the dead. Or, at least take scientists a step closer to cloning the species.
Assistant research professor of biological sciences at North Carolina State University
Dr Lindsay Zanno said:
“Yes, it’s possible. We have some evidence that fragments of DNA may be preserved in dinosaur fossils, but this remains to be tested further."
Scientists were able to identify the medullary bone because of keratan sulfate, a material found to be consistent with known medullary tissues from ostriches and chickens. Dr Zanno explained how the medullary bone — which is only present in female birds related to dinosaurs.
"It’s a special tissue that is built up as easily mobilized calcium storage just before egg laying. The outcome is that birds do not have to pull calcium from the main part of their bones in order to shell eggs, weakening their bones the way crocodiles – the closest living relatives of dinosaurs – do. Medullary bone is thus present just before and during egg laying, but is entirely gone after the female has finished laying eggs.”
The T-Rex’s remains might also provide clues about how to identify male and female theropods or bipedal meat-eating dinosaurs. Dr Zanno noted:
“It’s a dirty secret, but we know next to nothing about sex-linked traits in extinct dinosaurs. Dinosaurs weren’t shy about sexual signaling, all those bells and whistles, horns, crests, and frills, and yet we just haven’t had a reliable way to tell males from females. Just being able to identify a dinosaur definitively as a female opens up a whole new world of possibilities. Now that we can show pregnant dinosaurs have a chemical fingerprint, we need a concerted effort to find more.”
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