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Entry 144Filed under Breeding

Did Scientists Find Dinosaur Cells in 68-Million-Year-Old Bone? What the 2005 Report Actually Found

A landmark 2005 study reported fossil cellular and vessel-like structures in dinosaur bone. It did not show living cells or, by itself, prove intact dinosaur DNA.
2-minute read By Animalso Team

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Scientists did report cell-like structures in dinosaur bone—but the widely discussed finding dates to 2005, not a new discovery, and it does not mean living cells survived for 68 million years. The report described fossilized cellular, blood-vessel-like and fibrous material. Those structures are not the same thing as viable cells or intact dinosaur DNA.

What did scientists report finding?

In a 2005 paper, Mary Schweitzer and colleagues described cellular structures, blood-vessel-like material and fibrous extracellular matrix in dinosaur bone. Nature’s 2025 retrospective identifies the study as Schweitzer, Wittmeyer, Horner and Toporski, published in Science 307, pages 1952–1955. Nature’s retrospective describes the report as a landmark that prompted systematic investigation of fossil biomolecules.

“Cells” in this context refers to structures interpreted as fossil remnants, not cells shown to be alive or functioning. A visible or microscopic structure, chemical evidence for preserved molecules, and evidence of intact genetic material are distinct claims; one does not automatically establish the next.

Was this a new discovery in 2025?

No. Nature’s March 2025 retrospective marked 20 years since the 2005 report. The newer date is a look back at its influence, not the date the dinosaur-bone finding was first announced.

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Does the report prove cells survived for exactly 68 million years?

Not on the evidence established by the Nature retrospective. Although the headline attaches an age of 68 million years to the fossil, the accessible retrospective supports the 2005 report and its broader scientific context; it does not verify the exact age of that specimen. That figure should therefore be treated as a claim requiring a separate source that identifies and dates the specific fossil—not as a fact established by the retrospective.

Did researchers find dinosaur DNA?

The reported cellular and vessel-like structures do not, by themselves, demonstrate intact dinosaur DNA. The report helped spur wider investigation into what molecular material can persist in fossils, but claims about structures, preserved biomolecules and intact DNA require different evidence. The retrospective does not establish that this finding yielded a complete dinosaur genome.

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Was the 2005 report the first evidence of ancient fossil material?

No. Nature notes that soft tissues and biomolecular fragments had already been reported in fossils from both the Mesozoic and Palaeozoic eras. It gives the Mesozoic range as 252–65 million years ago and the Palaeozoic range as 538–252 million years ago. The importance of the 2005 work was its impact: it helped launch a systematic search for fossil remnants of biomolecules, rather than being the first report of ancient material in fossils.

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