Experimental degradation of helicoidal photonic nanostructures in scarab beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae): implications for the identification of circularly polarizing cuticle in the fossil record

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dc.contributor.authorOdin, Giliane P.
dc.contributor.authorMcNamara, Maria E.
dc.contributor.authorArwin, Hans
dc.contributor.authorJärrendahl, Kenneth
dc.contributor.funderScience Foundation Irelanden
dc.contributor.funderEuropean Research Councilen
dc.contributor.funderHorizon 2020en
dc.date.accessioned2021-09-16T09:08:43Z
dc.date.available2021-09-16T09:08:43Z
dc.date.issued2018-11-14
dc.date.updated2021-09-16T08:38:57Z
dc.description.abstractScarab beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) can exhibit striking colours produced by pigments and/or nanostructures. The latter include helicoidal (Bouligand) structures that can generate circularly polarized light. These have a cryptic evolutionary history in part because fossil examples are unknown. This suggests either a real biological signal, i.e. that Bouligand structures did not evolve until recently, or a taphonomic signal, i.e. that conditions during the fossilization process were not conducive to their preservation. We address this issue by experimentally degrading circularly polarizing cuticle of modern scarab beetles to test the relative roles of decay, maturation and taxonomy in controlling preservation. The results reveal that Bouligand structures have the potential to survive fossilization, but preservation is controlled by taxonomy and the diagenetic history of specimens. Further, cuticle of specific genus (Chrysina) is particularly decay-prone in alkaline conditions; this may relate to the presence of certain compounds, e.g. uric acid, in the cuticle of these taxa.en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionAccepted Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationOdin, G. P., McNamara, M. E., Arwin, H. and Järrendahl, K. (2018) 'Experimental degradation of helicoidal photonic nanostructures in scarab beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae): implications for the identification of circularly polarizing cuticle in the fossil record', Journal of The Royal Society Interface, 15(148), 20180560 (11 pp). doi: 10.1098/rsif.2018.0560en
dc.identifier.doi10.1098/rsif.2018.0560en
dc.identifier.issn1742-5689
dc.identifier.journaltitleJournal of the Royal Society Interfaceen
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/11926
dc.identifier.volume15en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherThe Royal Societyen
dc.relation.projectinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/SFI/SFI ERC Support Programme/16/ERCS/3904/IE/SFI ERC Support Programme _ Maria McNamara (University College Cork)/en
dc.relation.projectinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020::ERC::ERC-STG/637691/EU/Animal coloration through deep time: evolutionary novelty, homology and taphonomy/ANICOLEVOen
dc.relation.urihttps://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsif.2018.0560
dc.rights© 2018 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. This Accepted Author Manuscript is made available under a CC-BY Licenseen
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en
dc.subjectStructural coloursen
dc.subjectBouligand structureen
dc.subjectTaphonomyen
dc.subjectFossil insects,en
dc.subjectMueller-matrix ellipsometryen
dc.subjectPolarization visionen
dc.subjectOptical activityen
dc.subjectLighten
dc.subjectDecayen
dc.subjectPreservationen
dc.subjectReflectorsen
dc.subjectTaphonomyen
dc.subjectOriginen
dc.subjectGreenen
dc.titleExperimental degradation of helicoidal photonic nanostructures in scarab beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae): implications for the identification of circularly polarizing cuticle in the fossil recorden
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)en
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