Fossilization of melanosomes via sulfurization

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dc.contributor.authorMcNamara, Maria E.
dc.contributor.authorvan Dongen, Bart E.
dc.contributor.authorLockyer, Nick P.
dc.contributor.authorBull, Ian D.
dc.contributor.authorOrr, Patrick J.
dc.contributor.funderEnterprise Irelanden
dc.contributor.funderMarie Curieen
dc.contributor.funderNatural Environment Research Councilen
dc.date.accessioned2019-11-04T11:40:59Z
dc.date.available2019-11-04T11:40:59Z
dc.date.issued2016-04-19
dc.description.abstractFossil melanin granules (melanosomes) are an important resource for inferring the evolutionary history of colour and its functions in animals. The taphonomy of melanin and melanosomes, however, is incompletely understood. In particular, the chemical processes responsible for melanosome preservation have not been investigated. As a result, the origins of sulfur‐bearing compounds in fossil melanosomes are difficult to resolve. This has implications for interpretations of original colour in fossils based on potential sulfur‐rich phaeomelanosomes. Here we use pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectrometry (Py‐GCMS), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF‐SIMS) to assess the mode of preservation of fossil microstructures, confirmed as melanosomes based on the presence of melanin, preserved in frogs from the Late Miocene Libros biota (NE Spain). Our results reveal a high abundance of organosulfur compounds and non‐sulfurized fatty acid methyl esters in both the fossil tissues and host sediment; chemical signatures in the fossil tissues are inconsistent with preservation of phaeomelanin. Our results reflect preservation via the diagenetic incorporation of sulfur, i.e. sulfurization (natural vulcanization), and other polymerization processes. Organosulfur compounds and/or elevated concentrations of sulfur have been reported from melanosomes preserved in various invertebrate and vertebrate fossils and depositional settings, suggesting that preservation through sulfurization is likely to be widespread. Future studies of sulfur‐rich fossil melanosomes require that the geochemistry of the host sediment is tested for evidence of sulfurization in order to constrain interpretations of potential phaeomelanosomes and thus of original integumentary colour in fossils.en
dc.description.sponsorshipEnterprise Ireland Basic Research Grant (Grant Number: SC/2002/138);en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionPublished Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationMcNamara, M. E., van Dongen, B. E., Lockyer, N. P., Bull, Ian D. and Orr, P. J. (2016) 'Fossilization of melanosomes via sulfurization', Palaeontology, 59(3), pp. 337-350. DOI: 10.1111/pala.12238en
dc.identifier.doi10.1111/pala.12238en
dc.identifier.eissn1475-4983
dc.identifier.endpage350en
dc.identifier.issn0031-0239
dc.identifier.issued3en
dc.identifier.journaltitlePalaeontologyen
dc.identifier.startpage337en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/8948
dc.identifier.volume59en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherWileyen
dc.relation.projectinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/RCUK/NERC/NE/J023426/1/GB/The Geochemistry of Fossil Pigment Preservation/en
dc.relation.urihttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/pala.12238
dc.rights©2016 The Authors. Palaeontology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Palaeontological Association. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.en
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en
dc.subjectMelaninen
dc.subjectMelanosomesen
dc.subjectSulfurizationen
dc.subjectFossil preservationen
dc.subjectFossil colouren
dc.subjectLibros biotaen
dc.titleFossilization of melanosomes via sulfurizationen
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)en
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