Chemical preservation of tail feathers from Anchiornis huxleyi, a theropod dinosaur from the Tiaojishan Formation (Upper Jurassic, China)

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dc.contributor.authorCincotta, Aude
dc.contributor.authorNguyen Tu, Thanh Thuy
dc.contributor.authorColaux, Julien L.
dc.contributor.authorTerwagne, Guy
dc.contributor.authorDerenne, Sylvie
dc.contributor.authorGodefroit, Pascal
dc.contributor.authorCarleer, Robert
dc.contributor.authorAnquetil, Christelle
dc.contributor.authorYans, Johan
dc.contributor.funderIrish Research Councilen
dc.contributor.funderFonds De La Recherche Scientifique - FNRSen
dc.date.accessioned2020-08-31T12:20:57Z
dc.date.available2020-08-31T12:20:57Z
dc.date.issued2020-06-24
dc.date.updated2020-08-23T11:20:33Z
dc.description.abstractA panel of geochemical techniques is used here to investigate the taphonomy of fossil feathers preserved in association with the skeleton of the Jurassic theropod Anchiornis huxleyi. Extant feathers were analysed in parallel to test whether the soft tissues morphologically preserved in the fossil also exhibit a high degree of chemical preservation. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) indicate that clays and iron oxide pseudomorphs occur in the surrounding sediment and also reveal the preservation of melanosome‐like microbodies in the fossil. Carbon gradient along a depth profile and co‐occurrence of carbon and sulphur are shown in the fossil by elastic backscattering (EBS) and particle‐induced x‐ray emission (PIXE), which are promising techniques for the elemental analysis of fossil soft tissues. The molecular composition of modern and fossil soft tissues was assessed from micro‐attenuated total reflectance fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (micro‐ATR FTIR), solid‐state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (CP‐MAS 13C NMR) and pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectrometry in the presence of TMAH (TMAH‐Py‐GC‐MS). Results indicate that the proteinaceous material that comprises the modern feathers is not present in the fossil feathers. The fossil feathers and the embedding sediment exhibit a highly aliphatic character. However, substantial differences exist between these samples, revealing that the organic matter of the fossil feathers is, at least partially, derived from original constituents of the feathers. Our results suggest that, despite the morphological preservation of Anchiornis feathers, original proteins, that is keratin, were probably not preserved in the 160‐myr‐old feathers.en
dc.description.sponsorshipFonds De La Recherche Scientifique - FNRS (FRIA grant, Fonds pour la Formation à la Recherche dans l'Industrie et dans l'Agriculture); Irish Research Council. Grant Number: GOIPD/2018/768en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionAccepted Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationCincotta, A., Nguyen Tu, T. T., Colaux, J. L., Terwagne, G., Derenne, S., Godefroit, P., Carleer, R., Anquetil, C. and Yans, J. (2020) 'Chemical preservation of tail feathers from Anchiornis huxleyi, a theropod dinosaur from the Tiaojishan Formation (Upper Jurassic, China)', Palaeontology, 63(5), pp. 841-863. doi: 10.1111/pala.12494en
dc.identifier.doi10.1111/pala.12494en
dc.identifier.endpage863en
dc.identifier.journaltitlePalaeontologyen
dc.identifier.startpage841en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/10416
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherWileyen
dc.relation.urihttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/pala.12494
dc.rights© 2020 The Palaeontological Association. This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: (2020), Chemical preservation of tail feathers from Anchiornis huxleyi, a theropod dinosaur from the Tiaojishan Formation (Upper Jurassic, China). Palaeontology, 63: 841-863, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.12494. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.en
dc.subjectAnchiornisen
dc.subjectFossil feathersen
dc.subjectTaphonomyen
dc.subjectSoft tissue preservationen
dc.subjectDinosauren
dc.titleChemical preservation of tail feathers from Anchiornis huxleyi, a theropod dinosaur from the Tiaojishan Formation (Upper Jurassic, China)en
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)en
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