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Could ‘Jurassic Park’ Really Happen?

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

A Jordanian geologist who gathers amber samples in this desert kingdom is hoping the insects trapped inside dined on a last meal of dinosaur blood 140 million years ago.

Abbas Haddadin has 100 types of insects preserved in more than 10,000 pieces of Jordanian amber dating back to the early Cretaceous period, when dinosaurs existed. Blood in the stomachs of some of the insects could help unravel the genetic characteristics of dinosaurs, he believes.

“ ‘Jurassic Park’ is at our doorsteps,” said Haddadin, who plans to begin testing samples in the spring.

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In director Steven Spielberg’s hit movie, based on Michael Crichton’s fantasy novel, dinosaurs are created from DNA found in blood sucked by a mosquito preserved in amber.

“It may come true after all,” Haddadin said.

Not likely, said two American scientists, one of whom examined photographs of some of Haddadin’s insects-in-amber collection.

But not impossible, either.

George Poinar, a paleobiologist at Oregon State University, identified two insects--a wasp and a biting midge, which is similar to a gnat--in the photos he viewed.

“The wasp probably had no contact with dinosaurs. However, the biting midge probably required a blood meal from a vertebrate and, theoretically, could have bitten a dinosaur,” Poinar said.

“If this occurred--and the midge was caught in resin just afterward--then some of the blood could still be in the insect’s intestine. Theoretically, there could be some dinosaur DNA remaining in that blood.”

Poinar said there have been attempts to extract dinosaur blood from preserved insects elsewhere, but none as old as those found in Lebanese, Jordanian and Israeli amber. Scientists believe this amber is among the oldest in the world, dating back 140 million years.

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“Our team did extract DNA from a beetle in Lebanese amber,” but it turned out to be only that of the beetle, Poinar said.

Jeffery Bada, a geochemist at UC San Diego, dismissed the possibility of finding dinosaur DNA in Haddadin’s insects. “There may be some remnants of the insect’s own blood, but to say it may have sucked on dinosaur is really stretching it,” he said.

Old amber deposits often are damaged by molecular degradation and radiation, which makes the likelihood of finding dinosaur DNA even more remote, he said.

Haddadin’s insect samples were found near the King Talal Dam, a fertile area 17 miles north of Jordan’s capital, Amman, one of several sites that he has frequented in his amber research since 1973.

In “Jurassic Park,” the amber used to re-create dinosaurs is found in the Dominican Republic; in reality, amber there dates back just 25 million years. In the United States, 90 million-year-old amber is found in New Jersey, and fossil resin has been dated back 40 million years in Baltic Sea countries.

Dinosaurs are known to have existed as early as the Triassic Period, 230 million years ago. They became extinct 65 million years ago. Human civilization began 10,000 years ago.

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Haddadin’s amber collection also contains worms, weeds and air bubbles. In 1979, Haddadin and German scientist Klaus Bandel documented amber production back to the now extinct Agathis tree, from the Araucariaceae family.

Haddadin said he has focused on the amber containing wasps and midges because of their “great importance as stinging insects which might have stung a dinosaur and kept its DNA in their stomachs.”

Succinic acid found in amber kills bacteria, providing a better chance that the insects remained intact, he said.

Haddadin said no dinosaur bones have been found in Jordan or the region. Excavations in the Middle East have focused more on ancient civilizations than on animal life.

“It’s true we may find nothing that could contribute to international research on dinosaurs, but what about if we did get something from this amber?” Haddadin asked. “I think the cause is worth a try.”

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Royal Scientific Society:

https://www.rss.gov.jo

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