Fossils bone, ancient proteins

Brandt, E., Wiechmann, I., and Grupe, G. (2002). How reliable are immunological tools for the detection of ancient proteins in fossil bones Int. J. Osteoarchaeol. 12, 307-316. 

Extraordinarily, fragments of the protein of connective tissue known as collagen have recently been extracted from bones of Tyrannosaurus rex. The primary structure of these fragments strengthens the suggestion that birds are our closest extant relatives to dinosaurs. This finding is certain to set off a determined effort to recover additional protein material from ancient fossils. 

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