protoporphyrin

/ ˌprəʊtəʊˈpɔːfɪrɪn /

noun

1. a type of porphyrin that, when combined with an iron atom, forms haem, the oxygen-bearing prosthetic group of the red blood pigment haemoglobin

Example Sentences

In the new report published Wednesday in Nature, they write that they found a red-brown pigment called protoporphyrin IX and a blue-green one called biliverdin5 in both modern birds and in a group of dinosaurs that were ancestors of modern birds — Eumaniraptorans, including favorites like velociraptor.

From New York Times

Using Raman spectroscopy, a nondestructive analytic tool, Wiemann looked for the molecular signatures of protoporphyrin and biliverdin in the oviraptor eggshells.

From Washington Post

Another molecule, protoporphyrin, provides the rusts and browns.

From Washington Post

A few years ago, Mark Hauber, an ornithologist at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and his colleagues designed a protocol to examine biliverdin and protoporphyrin in eggshells, including shells from a giant extinct bird called the moa.

From Washington Post

In the eumaniraptorans, the researchers found evidence of a blue-green pigment called biliverdin and a red-brown pigment called protoporphyrin IX structurally integrated into the crystal matrix of the eggshell, as they are with birds.

From Reuters