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Molecular preservation of the pigment melanin in fossil melanosmoses
Lund University, Sweden.
Lund University, Sweden.
RISE, SP – Sveriges Tekniska Forskningsinstitut, SP Sveriges tekniska forskningsinstitut, YKI – Ytkemiska institutet.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-2696-7215
Lund University, Sweden.
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2012 (English)In: Nature Communications, E-ISSN 2041-1723, Vol. 3, article id 824Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Fossil feathers, hairs and eyes are regularly preserved as carbonized traces comprised of masses of micrometre-sized bodies that are spherical, oblate or elongate in shape. For a long time, these minute structures were regarded as the remains of biofilms of keratinophilic bacteria, but recently they have been reinterpreted as melanosomes; that is, colour-bearing organelles. Resolving this fundamental difference in interpretation is crucial: if endogenous then the fossil microbodies would represent a significant advancement in the fields of palaeontology and evolutionary biology given, for example, the possibility to reconstruct integumentary colours and plumage colour patterns. It has previously been shown that certain trace elements occur in fossils as organometallic compounds, and hence may be used as biomarkers for melanin pigments. Here we expand this knowledge by demonstrating the presence of molecularly preserved melanin in intimate association with melanosome-like microbodies isolated from an argentinoid fish eye from the early Eocene of Denmark.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2012. Vol. 3, article id 824
Keywords [en]
Molecular preservation of the pigment melanin in fossils melanosmoses
National Category
Natural Sciences
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URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-27329DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1819Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-84864308441OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-27329DiVA, id: diva2:1054333
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A3113

Available from: 2016-12-08 Created: 2016-12-08 Last updated: 2023-06-05Bibliographically approved

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