Soft Tissue Analysis in Paleontology

Study Notes

Scientists at the Field Museum are studying the fossils of Sue the T-Rex to determine if she was warm-blooded.
They use destructive analysis techniques like slicing and dissolving in acid to study the fossils.
By examining the growth rate and color of fossils, they can determine if Sue had a high metabolic rate.
Soft tissues like blood vessels and proteins can also be extracted from fossils to study their chemical composition.
Paleontologists are surprised that soft tissues like skin and blood vessels can be preserved in fossils.
The study of soft tissues requires a new method of analysis and is still being developed.
The discovery of soft tissues in fossils can provide a more complete picture of the diversity of life on Earth.
Scientists are interested in studying soft tissues to determine how dinosaurs evolved into modern birds.
The study of soft tissues in fossils is a relatively new field, only developing in the last 30 years.
The preservation of soft tissues in fossils is still not well understood and requires further study.
Raman spectroscopy is a non-destructive technique used for characterizing organic specimens.
It uses a green light of 532 nanometers to excite different materials in the sample.
The chemical bonds in the sample vibrate in response to their chemical environment, producing specific wiggles that are detected as a spectrum.
Different wiggles at different wave numbers evidence different kinds of molecular bond vibration and chemical compounds present in the sample.
Different compounds tell us different things about the dinosaur being studied, such as their metabolic rate.
The amount of metabolic stress markers in soft tissues can signal whether the dinosaur was warm-blooded or cold-blooded.
The high metabolism of birds is not an avian innovation, but rather a trait shared by most dinosaurs.
Raman spectroscopy has upended what was once common knowledge about dinosaur physiology and evolution.
The study was conducted by Yasmina and her team at the Field Museum.
Abbey, a young paleontologist, has been fascinated by the Field Museum since childhood.

Description

Explore how scientists use destructive and non-destructive analysis techniques to study soft tissues in fossils, such as blood vessels and proteins, to understand the physiology and evolution of dinosaurs like Sue the T-Rex. Discover how Raman spectroscopy plays a crucial role in characterizing organic specimens and determining metabolic rates.