Direct chemical evidence for eumelanin pigment from the Jurassic period
Melanin is a ubiquitous biological pigment found in bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals. It has a diverse range of ecological and biochemical functions, including display, evasion, photoprotection, detoxification, and metal scavenging. To date, evidence of melanin in fossil organisms has relied ent...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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National Academy of Sciences
2012
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/75399 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7144-8537 |
| _version_ | 1811089570784083968 |
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| author | Glass, Keely Ito, Shosuke Wilby, Philip R. Sota, Takayuki Nakamura, Atsushi Bowers, C. Russell Vinther, Jakob Dutta, Suryendu Briggs, Derek E. G. Wakamatsu, Kazumasa Simon, John D. Summons, Roger E |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Glass, Keely Ito, Shosuke Wilby, Philip R. Sota, Takayuki Nakamura, Atsushi Bowers, C. Russell Vinther, Jakob Dutta, Suryendu Briggs, Derek E. G. Wakamatsu, Kazumasa Simon, John D. Summons, Roger E |
| author_sort | Glass, Keely |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Melanin is a ubiquitous biological pigment found in bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals. It has a diverse range of ecological and biochemical functions, including display, evasion, photoprotection, detoxification, and metal scavenging. To date, evidence of melanin in fossil organisms has relied entirely on indirect morphological and chemical analyses. Here, we apply direct chemical techniques to categorically demonstrate the preservation of eumelanin in two > 160 Ma Jurassic cephalopod ink sacs and to confirm its chemical similarity to the ink of the modern cephalopod, Sepia officinalis. Identification and characterization of degradation-resistant melanin may provide insights into its diverse roles in ancient organisms. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T14:21:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/75399 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T14:21:18Z |
| publishDate | 2012 |
| publisher | National Academy of Sciences |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/753992024-05-15T02:19:02Z Direct chemical evidence for eumelanin pigment from the Jurassic period Glass, Keely Ito, Shosuke Wilby, Philip R. Sota, Takayuki Nakamura, Atsushi Bowers, C. Russell Vinther, Jakob Dutta, Suryendu Briggs, Derek E. G. Wakamatsu, Kazumasa Simon, John D. Summons, Roger E Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Summons, Roger Everett Dutta, Suryendu Melanin is a ubiquitous biological pigment found in bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals. It has a diverse range of ecological and biochemical functions, including display, evasion, photoprotection, detoxification, and metal scavenging. To date, evidence of melanin in fossil organisms has relied entirely on indirect morphological and chemical analyses. Here, we apply direct chemical techniques to categorically demonstrate the preservation of eumelanin in two > 160 Ma Jurassic cephalopod ink sacs and to confirm its chemical similarity to the ink of the modern cephalopod, Sepia officinalis. Identification and characterization of degradation-resistant melanin may provide insights into its diverse roles in ancient organisms. NASA Astrobiology Institute (Grant) 2012-12-12T14:05:11Z 2012-12-12T14:05:11Z 2012-06 2011-11 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0027-8424 1091-6490 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/75399 Glass, K. et al. “Direct Chemical Evidence for Eumelanin Pigment from the Jurassic Period.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109.26 (2012): 10218–10223. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7144-8537 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1118448109 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf National Academy of Sciences PNAS |
| spellingShingle | Glass, Keely Ito, Shosuke Wilby, Philip R. Sota, Takayuki Nakamura, Atsushi Bowers, C. Russell Vinther, Jakob Dutta, Suryendu Briggs, Derek E. G. Wakamatsu, Kazumasa Simon, John D. Summons, Roger E Direct chemical evidence for eumelanin pigment from the Jurassic period |
| title | Direct chemical evidence for eumelanin pigment from the Jurassic period |
| title_full | Direct chemical evidence for eumelanin pigment from the Jurassic period |
| title_fullStr | Direct chemical evidence for eumelanin pigment from the Jurassic period |
| title_full_unstemmed | Direct chemical evidence for eumelanin pigment from the Jurassic period |
| title_short | Direct chemical evidence for eumelanin pigment from the Jurassic period |
| title_sort | direct chemical evidence for eumelanin pigment from the jurassic period |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/75399 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7144-8537 |
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