Latest news with #dinosaurfossils
CBC
2 days ago
- General
- CBC
Dinos, meet drones: How new technology could reshape the fossil record
A new study is challenging a long-standing method of dating dinosaur fossils in Alberta's Dinosaur Provincial Park — using drone technology. Previously, one of the methods paleontologists have used to date fossils in the UNESCO World Heritage Site is by measuring how high or low skeletons were found above a distinct boundary where two major rock layers meet. That boundary serves as a time stamp that fossils are dated in relation to. But this method gives only a rough age estimate, according to Alexandre Demers-Potvin, the study's lead author and PhD student at McGill University's Redpath Museum. He and his team used drones to capture over 1,000 high-resolution images of a section of the park and recreated it as a 3D model. The findings, published in the journal Palaeontologia Electronica, show that the boundary used to date fossils in the park actually fluctuates in elevation by as much as 12 metres in relatively short distances. That means the reference point itself varies and could be throwing off the estimated ages of fossils measured against it. The drone method, however, brings a new level of precision to fossil dating in the park. "This is easily one of the studies of which I'm proudest," said Demers-Potvin. "It feels great because this is the kind of work that takes years to complete," he said, citing the collaborative effort between researchers and students who contributed to the study. He said drone-assisted 3D modelling "might be a promising way to better understand which dinosaur fossils are actually older than others in that part of Alberta." "If you're able to take a step back by looking at a larger area from the air, it's easier to notice those small differences." Taking to the sky In 2018, Demers-Potvin began exploring a key fossil site in the park called "Bonebed 190," alongside a crew of McGill's vertebrate paleontology field course researchers. This particular section proved to have a rich biodiversity and high preservation quality of fossils, which sparked a long-term project to further research the area. Demers-Potvin and his team introduced drones to the mix in 2021, taking pictures from above, while a ground team placed down markers using a GPS in order to better geolocate the final 3D rendering. Using a technique called structure-from-motion photogrammetry, they stitched the photos together to construct a detailed 3D model of the terrain. "The quality of the images of that model enabled us to essentially split all those hills into overlying rock layers … which means that we essentially split this whole section [into] different time zones, and this is something that hasn't been done very often for that kind of rock outcrop before," Demers-Potvin explained. The researchers say this application of 3D modelling may be a more reliable tool to date fossils, correcting previous estimates and filling in the gaps that exist in the current timeline. Drones help piece together more accurate fossil record Emily Bamforth, a paleontologist and curator at the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum in northwestern Alberta, said drone use is becoming increasingly common in her field. She is not affiliated with the study but said McGill's research is important to understanding the fossil record with accuracy and placing fossils in both a spatial and temporal context. "In the last two decades, there has … been a shift in dinosaur paleontology away from isolated specimens and towards understanding the broader environments and ecosystems in which these animals lived and how they changed over time," she said. "In this, the stratigraphic context in which a fossil is found is critical, to the point that where a fossil is found is as important as the fossil itself." Although Dinosaur Provincial Park is a well-researched site, Demers-Potvin hopes to continue refining what they already know with drone technology — potentially gaining more insight into the biodiversity of an ancient world. "I think we're getting away from that older method [of dating], and I think now we're just filling the gaps between one data point and another data point and that entire stack of sedimentary rock layers that you can find in the badlands," Demers-Potvin said. "This is only the first step as part of a much bigger project where we hope to cover the entire park."
The Independent
4 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Could a 70 million-year-old dinosaur fossil hold the key to new cancer discoveries?
Scientists believe dinosaur fossils could hold the key to new cancer discoveries and influence future treatments for humans. A decade-long study published in the journal Biology by researchers from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and Imperial College London has identified preserved red blood cell-like structures in a dinosaur fossil. The findings raised the possibility that prehistoric creatures could be used to study ancient tumours, helping to complete the 'jigsaw' of cancer's molecular building blocks, and potentially influencing future treatments for humans. Professor Justin Stebbing, an oncologist at ARU, said the idea for the study began in 2016 after reading an article about the discovery of a new fossil in Romania with a tumour in its jaw. The remains were those of a Telmatosaurus transsylvanicus, a duck-billed, plant-eating 'marsh lizard', a specimen that had lived between 66-70 million years ago in the Hateg Basin in present-day Romania. 'Justin said, guys, I want to go and get this tumour and see what we can get out of it,' Dr Biancastella Cereser, a cancer specialist at Imperial, said. 'We wanted to see if this tumour in the dinosaur could give us any information about any parallel with human cancers, because the tumour that this dinosaur had was an ameloblastoma, a benign tumour in the jaw, which humans have as well.' From 2017, a team was put together, including three scientists who traditionally work on human cancers – Professor Stebbing, Dr Cereser, and Professor Pramodh Chandrasinghe from the University of Kelaniya in Sri Lanka. 'We contacted the town in Romania, which was very excited to loan us the fossil,' Dr Cereser said. 'We went to Romania and collected the specimen. We brought it back, and we basically drilled into it with a very, very, very fine drill. 'Then we mounted it into this very sophisticated microscope and imaged it. What we saw inside – there were some structures, some forms, that looked like blood cells.' This Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) technique enabled the researchers to identify low-density structures resembling erythrocytes, or red blood cells, in the fossilised bone. 'Up until recently, the fossil record and finding ancient things was really interesting for finding hard things like shells or skeletons to assess tissues,' Professor Stebbing said. 'But if we're trying to look at the building blocks of life or the building blocks of cancer, to understand cancer better, what we found was you can actually as well as seeing the skeleton, we can actually see soft tissue as well. 'We could actually see like the flesh of the cancer. This means we can look at cancer not only occurring in human or in animal models, but we can look at it tens and tens of millions of years ago. 'It helps us understand the role of environment on cancer.' He continued: ' Jurassic Park isn't right, because what they said is dinosaur DNA could be recovered and cloned to resurrect dinosaurs, but we can't get DNA out of this because it's broken down by weathering and time. 'But what we have found is that we've actually found proteins in soft tissues can survive over time. 'All we're trying to understand is the molecular building blocks of cancer from a very, very ancient perspective. 'If we can understand cancer better, we can come up with better treatments. I do a lot of research in cancer, so, you know, it all comes together. It's just part of a jigsaw that you are trying to build.'
South China Morning Post
4 days ago
- General
- South China Morning Post
How dinosaur fossils could help fill in cancer's ‘jigsaw' of molecular building blocks
Dinosaur fossils could hold the key to new cancer discoveries and influence future treatments for humans, scientists say. Advertisement In a new study published in the journal Biology that was almost a decade in the making, researchers from two UK universities – Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and Imperial College London – identified preserved structures resembling red blood cells in the fossil of a dinosaur that had a tumour. The findings raised the possibility that prehistoric creatures could be used to study ancient tumours, helping to fill in the 'jigsaw' of cancer's molecular building blocks. This could potentially influence future treatments for humans. The idea for the study began in 2016 when Professor Justin Stebbing, an oncologist at ARU, came across a news article about the discovery of a new fossil in Romania with a tumour in its jaw. The remains were those of a juvenile Telmatosaurus transsylvanicus, a duck-billed, plant-eating 'marsh lizard' that had lived 66-70 million years ago in the Hateg Basin in present-day Romania. A sketch of Telmatosaurus transsylvanicus. Image: Debivort/CC-BY-SA-3.0 'Justin said, 'Guys, I want to go and get this tumour and see what we can get out of it,'' said Dr Biancastella Cereser, a cancer specialist at Imperial.
The Independent
5 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
New dinosaur discovery could hold the key to human cancer treatment
Scientists believe dinosaur fossils could hold the key to new cancer discoveries and influence future treatments for humans. A decade-long study published in the journal Biology by researchers from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and Imperial College London has identified preserved red blood cell-like structures in a dinosaur fossil. The findings raised the possibility that prehistoric creatures could be used to study ancient tumours, helping to complete the 'jigsaw' of cancer's molecular building blocks, and potentially influencing future treatments for humans. Professor Justin Stebbing, an oncologist at ARU, said the idea for the study began in 2016 after reading an article about the discovery of a new fossil in Romania with a tumour in its jaw. The remains were those of a Telmatosaurus transsylvanicus, a duck-billed, plant-eating 'marsh lizard', a specimen that had lived between 66-70 million years ago in the Hateg Basin in present-day Romania. 'Justin said, guys, I want to go and get this tumour and see what we can get out of it,' Dr Biancastella Cereser, a cancer specialist at Imperial, said. 'We wanted to see if this tumour in the dinosaur could give us any information about any parallel with human cancers, because the tumour that this dinosaur had was an ameloblastoma, a benign tumour in the jaw, which humans have as well.' From 2017, a team was put together, including three scientists who traditionally work on human cancers – Professor Stebbing, Dr Cereser, and Professor Pramodh Chandrasinghe from the University of Kelaniya in Sri Lanka. 'We contacted the town in Romania, which was very excited to loan us the fossil,' Dr Cereser said. 'We went to Romania and collected the specimen. We brought it back, and we basically drilled into it with a very, very, very fine drill. 'Then we mounted it into this very sophisticated microscope and imaged it. What we saw inside – there were some structures, some forms, that looked like blood cells.' This Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) technique enabled the researchers to identify low-density structures resembling erythrocytes, or red blood cells, in the fossilised bone. 'Up until recently, the fossil record and finding ancient things was really interesting for finding hard things like shells or skeletons to assess tissues,' Professor Stebbing said. 'But if we're trying to look at the building blocks of life or the building blocks of cancer, to understand cancer better, what we found was you can actually as well as seeing the skeleton, we can actually see soft tissue as well. 'We could actually see like the flesh of the cancer. This means we can look at cancer not only occurring in human or in animal models, but we can look at it tens and tens of millions of years ago. 'It helps us understand the role of environment on cancer.' He continued: ' Jurassic Park isn't right, because what they said is dinosaur DNA could be recovered and cloned to resurrect dinosaurs, but we can't get DNA out of this because it's broken down by weathering and time. 'But what we have found is that we've actually found proteins in soft tissues can survive over time. 'All we're trying to understand is the molecular building blocks of cancer from a very, very ancient perspective. 'If we can understand cancer better, we can come up with better treatments. I do a lot of research in cancer, so, you know, it all comes together. It's just part of a jigsaw that you are trying to build.'
