Scientists examining dinosaur fossils report evidence of preserved red blood cells and collagen amino acids, a finding led by Curtin University that could change how researchers investigate ancient biological material

Time has a way of taking almost everything away. Bodies decay. Tissues disappear, and even bones gradually change as millions of years pass.

Out of the excruciating cycle of time, nature sometimes decides to find a loophole by preserving a few traces for us to find and know that we were not the only ones and we won't be. One day, we find something that makes us wonder how that's even possible, and the next, nature throws even bigger mind-boggling stuff at us. Something similar happened with a group of palaeontologists when they found dinosaur blood.When we think of dinosaur fossils, we usually imagine enormous skeletons, sharp teeth and footprints preserved in rocks for millions of years.

But what if I told you that some fossils may hold traces of something far more delicate? In a study led by researchers at Curtin University, scientists examined a 115-million-year-old dinosaur fossil and reported evidence of structures resembling red blood cells, along with collagen-related molecules.