Synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy of melanosomes in vertebrates and cephalopods: implications for the affinity of Tullimonstrum
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Date
2019-10-23
Authors
Rogers, Christopher S.
Astrop, Timothy I.
Webb, Samuel M.
Ito, Shosuke
Wakamatsu, Kazumasa
McNamara, Maria E.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Royal Society
Published Version
Abstract
Screening pigments are essential for vision in animals. Vertebrates use melanins bound in melanosomes as screening pigments, whereas cephalopods are assumed to use ommochromes. Preserved eye melanosomes in the controversial fossil Tullimonstrum (Mazon Creek, IL, USA) are partitioned by size and/or shape into distinct layers. These layers resemble tissue-specific melanosome populations considered unique to the vertebrate eye. Here, we show that extant cephalopod eyes also show tissue-specific size- and/or shape-specific partitioning of melanosomes; these differ from vertebrate melanosomes in the relative abundance of trace metals and in the binding environment of copper. Chemical signatures of melanosomes in the eyes of Tullimonstrum more closely resemble those of modern cephalopods than those of vertebrates, suggesting that an invertebrate affinity for Tullimonstrum is plausible. Melanosome chemistry may thus provide insights into the phylogenetic affinities of enigmatic fossils where melanosome size and/or shape are equivocal.
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Keywords
Fossil soft tissues , Konservat-Lagerstatten , Melanosomes , Trace metals
Citation
Rogers, C. S., Astrop, T. I., Webb, S. M., Ito, S., Wakamatsu, K. and McNamara, M. E. (2019) 'Synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy of melanosomes in vertebrates and cephalopods: implications for the affinity of Tullimonstrum', Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 286(1913), 20191649 (8 pp). doi: 10.1098/rspb.2019.1649