Der linker
So, believing that these ancient dinosaur bones were in fact dragon bones, provincial Chinese villagers were grinding them up and eating them in their food.
OK, waitaminnit. Would these bones not be fossilized? Would their original bone-substance not have long since been replaced by inorganic minerals, leaving behind the structure of bone but composed, essentially, of rock?
I’ve seen fossils, and one would not normally succeed in grinding them up (although I suppose it would depend on what one is using as a grinder), and I would not think the results would be calcium-rich unless the fossil-mineral substance was primarily limestone. And as for boiling them with other ingredients, wouldn’t that be like boiling a rock? Stone soup indeed!
Have I been misled about the physical state of the world’s supply of dinosaur remnants? Have these folks somehow gotten ahold of unfossilized, still-made-of-bone dinosaur bones?
The link didn’t work for me, but I suspect it’s a case of a reporter not getting his facts straight. It’s not like the china stringer ran an analysis on the bones, or anything.
“Need an adjectival phrase… Bones contain calcium, that’s why we drink milk… aha ‘calcium-rich’ that’ll pep this article right up”.
Ground fossil bones, referred to as “Dragons’ Bones”, are used in Chinese medicine.
They are ground to powder, & consumed.
As a Viagra substitute.
Vast quantities of information have vanished down the gullets of aged Chinese men with limp Willys.
Just a guess, but I imagine that while the organic parts of the bone break down and are replaced by minerals, the components that are already mineral, calcium for instance, pretty much remain in place and intact.
Chinese Villagers eat Dinosaur Bones’. Wouldn’t that be, umm, rock?
It would certainly be a great album name.
Not all fossil bones have been mineralized. Some have the original material of the bone preserved. Recently a Tyrannosaurus rex fossil was found that still had some soft tissue preserved, from which collagen protein was extracted and analyzed. I was recently shown some intact wood by a geologist here that was about 20 million years old.
Although bones and other fossils often have their original materials replaced by other minerals and become “petrified,” some do not. Such bones could be easily ground up and mixed with food.
Note that “fossilized” is not synonymous with petrified or mineralized. A fossil is any trace of ancient life, whether it still contains the original material or not.
Maybe it’s another case of Stone Soup.
Colibri, thanks for the info. I didn’t realize there were fossils of that era that were not petrified.