Discovery of dinosaur soft tissue in Montana speciman revolutionizing paleontology

The grossest thing Mary Higby Schweitzer ever did for science was to saw off the leg of a dead ostrich that had been lying in a North Carolina farmer’s field for five days, rotting in the summer heat.

"I tasted it for the next three weeks," Schweitzer recalled.

The longer lasting result, however, was that it helped her discover that the spongy material inside a fossilized Tyrannosaurus rex leg bone was actually preserved soft tissue, including what appear to be blood vessels and cells.

She also discovered that, when it came to laying eggs, the female T. rex worked very much like the female ostrich, further bolstering the theory that modern birds are descended from dinosaurs.

"I personally think it’s the greatest discovery in paleontology in the last century. It’s so incredible because our assumptions were that it couldn’t happen." Jack Horner

By GAIL SCHONTZLER Chronicle Staff Writer

Full Story: http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2005/12/07/news/msu.txt