Fossil Biomolecules

Dinosaur amino acids:

Titanosaur eggshell contains a few of the most thermally stable amino acids, which are completely freed from their protein sequences and further degraded. These results are likely the most robust evidence of dinosaur protein-derived breakdown products.

Preprint: Saitta et al. 2020. bioRxiv

Fossil Pigments:

Pigments like melanin, carotenoids, and porphyrins can preserve deep in the fossil record and allow for the reconstruction of color patterns in organisms, such as dinosaurs.

Study: Roy et al. 2019. Biological Reviews

Video summary: HKU Faculty of Science

Laser fluorescence microscopy