Exceptionally preserved ‘skin’ in an Early Cretaceous fish from Colombia
Studies of soft tissue, cells and original biomolecular constituents preserved in fossil vertebrates have increased greatly in recent years. Here we report preservation of ‘skin’ with chemical and molecular characterization from a three-dimensionally preserved caudal portion of an aspidorhynchid Cre...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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PeerJ Inc.
2020-07-01
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| Series: | PeerJ |
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/9479.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797424106229989376 |
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| author | Andrés Alfonso-Rojas Edwin-Alberto Cadena |
| author_facet | Andrés Alfonso-Rojas Edwin-Alberto Cadena |
| author_sort | Andrés Alfonso-Rojas |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Studies of soft tissue, cells and original biomolecular constituents preserved in fossil vertebrates have increased greatly in recent years. Here we report preservation of ‘skin’ with chemical and molecular characterization from a three-dimensionally preserved caudal portion of an aspidorhynchid Cretaceous fish from the equatorial Barremian of Colombia, increasing the number of localities for which exceptional preservation is known. We applied several analytical techniques including SEM-EDS, FTIR and ToF-SIMS to characterize the micromorphology and molecular and elemental composition of this fossil. Here, we show that the fossilized ‘skin’ exhibits similarities with those from extant fish, including the wrinkles after suffering compression stress and flexibility, as well as architectural and tissue aspects of the two main layers (epidermis and dermis). This similarity extends also to the molecular level, with the demonstrated preservation of potential residues of original proteins not consistent with a bacterial source. Our results show a potential preservation mechanism where scales may have acted as an external barrier and together with an internal phosphate layer resulting from the degradation of the dermis itself creating an encapsulated environment for the integument. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T07:57:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-515b5b1d64dd49ce8ece00fd7d4a17ba |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T07:57:28Z |
| publishDate | 2020-07-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-515b5b1d64dd49ce8ece00fd7d4a17ba2023-12-03T00:52:06ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592020-07-018e947910.7717/peerj.9479Exceptionally preserved ‘skin’ in an Early Cretaceous fish from ColombiaAndrés Alfonso-Rojas0Edwin-Alberto Cadena1Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Grupo de Investigación Paleontología Neotropical Tradicional y Molecular (PaleoNeo), Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, ColombiaFacultad de Ciencias Naturales, Grupo de Investigación Paleontología Neotropical Tradicional y Molecular (PaleoNeo), Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, ColombiaStudies of soft tissue, cells and original biomolecular constituents preserved in fossil vertebrates have increased greatly in recent years. Here we report preservation of ‘skin’ with chemical and molecular characterization from a three-dimensionally preserved caudal portion of an aspidorhynchid Cretaceous fish from the equatorial Barremian of Colombia, increasing the number of localities for which exceptional preservation is known. We applied several analytical techniques including SEM-EDS, FTIR and ToF-SIMS to characterize the micromorphology and molecular and elemental composition of this fossil. Here, we show that the fossilized ‘skin’ exhibits similarities with those from extant fish, including the wrinkles after suffering compression stress and flexibility, as well as architectural and tissue aspects of the two main layers (epidermis and dermis). This similarity extends also to the molecular level, with the demonstrated preservation of potential residues of original proteins not consistent with a bacterial source. Our results show a potential preservation mechanism where scales may have acted as an external barrier and together with an internal phosphate layer resulting from the degradation of the dermis itself creating an encapsulated environment for the integument.https://peerj.com/articles/9479.pdfAspidorhynchidaeBarremianZapatocaSouth AmericaSoft-tissueMolecular Paleontology |
| spellingShingle | Andrés Alfonso-Rojas Edwin-Alberto Cadena Exceptionally preserved ‘skin’ in an Early Cretaceous fish from Colombia PeerJ Aspidorhynchidae Barremian Zapatoca South America Soft-tissue Molecular Paleontology |
| title | Exceptionally preserved ‘skin’ in an Early Cretaceous fish from Colombia |
| title_full | Exceptionally preserved ‘skin’ in an Early Cretaceous fish from Colombia |
| title_fullStr | Exceptionally preserved ‘skin’ in an Early Cretaceous fish from Colombia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exceptionally preserved ‘skin’ in an Early Cretaceous fish from Colombia |
| title_short | Exceptionally preserved ‘skin’ in an Early Cretaceous fish from Colombia |
| title_sort | exceptionally preserved skin in an early cretaceous fish from colombia |
| topic | Aspidorhynchidae Barremian Zapatoca South America Soft-tissue Molecular Paleontology |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/9479.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT andresalfonsorojas exceptionallypreservedskininanearlycretaceousfishfromcolombia AT edwinalbertocadena exceptionallypreservedskininanearlycretaceousfishfromcolombia |