Soft tissue and cellular preservation in vertebrate skeletal elements from the Cretaceous to the present.

ABSTRACT: Soft tissues and cell-like microstructures derived from skeletal elements of a well-preserved Tyrannosaurus rex (MOR 1125) were represented by four components in fragments of demineralized cortical and/or medullary bone: flexible and fibrous bone matrix; transparent, hollow and pliable blood vessels; intravascular material, including in some cases, structures morphologically reminiscent of vertebrate red blood cells; and osteocytes with intracellular contents and flexible filipodia. The present study attempts to trace the occurrence of these four components in bone from specimens spanning multiple geological time periods and varied depositional environments. At least three of the four components persist in some skeletal elements of specimens dating to the Campanian. Fibrous bone matrix is

SUBMITTER: Schweitzer MH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1685849 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature