CoolBeans writes:
The discovery of collagen in a Tyrannosaurus-Rex dinosaur femur bone was recently reported in the journal SCIENCE. This is an outstanding find because collagen being a soft tissue present in most animals is supposed to decay in a few thousand years. Collagen is the main protein found in connective tissue of animals. It can make up as much as 1 to 6 percent of muscle mass. Recently Triceratops and Hadrosaur femur bones in excellent condition were discovered in Glendive Montana and our group received permission to saw them in half and collect samples for Carbon 14 testing. Both bones were tested by a licensed lab for presence of collagen. Both bones did in fact contain some collagen! The best process ( Accelerator Mass Spectrometry ) was used. Total organic carbon and dinosaur bio-apatite was then extracted and pretreated to remove potential contaminants and concordant radiocarbon dates were obtained, all of which were similar to radiocarbon dates for ice age megafauna such as Siberian mammoths, saber tooth tigers of the Los Angeles LaBrea Tarpits, sloth dung and giant bison. We generally go with AMS dating because of its inherent superior accuracy but use the conventional method when large samples are available to completely rule out contamination. This is recommended by the professional carbon dating laboratory specialists.
This is an example of a PRATT, or Point Refuted A Thousand Times. This argument has been bandied about on this site for many years and explanations have already been put forth. If the instance you are speaking of is the T-Rex discovered by Mary Schweitzer than you are missing the portion that these fibers had been fossilized. The fibrous tissue had been rehydrated during the process that removes minerals from bone...
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Another thought that is being talked about is that it is because of the structure of collagen that the tendrils in the innermost part can escape fossilization for millions of years. Collagen is comprised of many different tendrils all bundled together, similar to a braided rope with thousands of braids. This could allow for the innermost braids of collagen to avoid the fossilization process. And of the 11 strands of collagen tested from a fossil it was determined that all of the strands came from the innermost portion of the larger braid.
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ABE - I also forgot to ask, why were they searching for atmospheric carbon in a fossibl well beyond the range of the test.
Carbon testing of 10,000 year old bone = 10,000
Carbon testing of a 30,000 year old bone = 30,000
Carbon testing of a 50,000 year old bone = 50,000
Carbon testing of a 100,000 year old bone = 50,000
and
Carbon testing of fossil dinosaur millions of years old = 50,000...
...
...
You can't keep counting up past the length of your ruler. And the ruler for Carbon-14 stops at 50,000.
Edited by Tempe 12ft Chicken, : No reason given.
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