Hemoglobin-derived porphyrins preserved in a Middle Eocene blood-engorged mosquito

Greenwalt, Dale E.; Goreva, Y. S.; Siljeström, Sandra; Rose, T.; Harbach, Ralph E.

doi:10.1073/pnas.1310885110

Cited by 92 publications

(81 citation statements)

References 29 publications

(24 reference statements)

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“…6). Martill and Unwin27 suggested that iron might be expected when looking for blood in fossils, and in a recent study, Greenwalt et al 15. found haemoglobin-derived porphyrin in the abdomen of a blood-engorged Eocene mosquito.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fibres and cellular structures preserved in 75-million–year-old dinosaur specimens

et al. 2015

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Exceptionally preserved organic remains are known throughout the vertebrate fossil record, and recently, evidence has emerged that such soft tissue might contain original components. We examined samples from eight Cretaceous dinosaur bones using nano-analytical techniques; the bones are not exceptionally preserved and show no external indication of soft tissue. In one sample, we observe structures consistent with endogenous collagen fibre remains displaying ∼67 nm banding, indicating the possible preservation of the original quaternary structure. Using ToF-SIMS, we identify amino-acid fragments typical of collagen fibrils. Furthermore, we observe structures consistent with putative erythrocyte remains that exhibit mass spectra similar to emu whole blood. Using advanced material characterization approaches, we find that these putative biological structures can be well preserved over geological timescales, and their preservation is more common than previously thought. The preservation of protein over geological timescales offers the opportunity to investigate relationships, physiology and behaviour of long extinct animals.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fibres and cellular structures preserved in 75-million–year-old dinosaur specimens

et al. 2015

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“…The most conclusive and comprehensive chemical study to date shows the presence of chemically intact melanin in quantities of ∼10% in Jurassic cephalopod ink sacs (25,27). Other studies have demonstrated the applicability of time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS), a surface-sensitive technique, which collects in situ mass spectrometric data from fossil samples with only minor alteration of the sample surface (7,8,28). The secondary ion spectra of putative fossil melanosomes contain the representative markers that are found in extant melanin samples qualitatively (7,8), and are distinct from the spectra acquired on bacterial samples and on aromatic organic molecules similar to melanin, such as porphyrins (7,8).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemical, experimental, and morphological evidence for diagenetically altered melanin in exceptionally preserved fossils

Colleary

Dolocan²,

Gardner

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

101

165

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In living organisms, color patterns, behavior, and ecology are closely linked. Thus, detection of fossil pigments may permit inferences about important aspects of ancient animal ecology and evolution. Melanin-bearing melanosomes were suggested to preserve as organic residues in exceptionally preserved fossils, retaining distinct morphology that is associated with aspects of original color patterns. Nevertheless, these oblong and spherical structures have also been identified as fossilized bacteria. To date, chemical studies have not directly considered the effects of diagenesis on melanin preservation, and how this may influence its identification. Here we use time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry to identify and chemically characterize melanin in a diverse sample of previously unstudied extant and fossil taxa, including fossils with notably different diagenetic histories and geologic ages. We document signatures consistent with melanin preservation in fossils ranging from feathers, to mammals, to amphibians. Using principal component analyses, we characterize putative mixtures of eumelanin and phaeomelanin in both fossil and extant samples. Surprisingly, both extant and fossil amphibians generally exhibit melanosomes with a mixed eumelanin/phaeomelanin composition rather than pure eumelanin, as assumed previously. We argue that experimental maturation of modern melanin samples replicates diagenetic chemical alteration of melanin observed in fossils. This refutes the hypothesis that such fossil microbodies could be bacteria, and demonstrates that melanin is widely responsible for the organic soft tissue outlines in vertebrates found at exceptional fossil localities, thus allowing for the reconstruction of certain aspects of original pigment patterns.

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“…The Early Eocene insects of this region show similar patterns indicating highly diverse ecosystems that include taxa now restricted to warm and equable climates in Asia, South America, and even Australia (Wilson 1977a;Archibald et al 2011Archibald et al , 2013Archibald and Bradler 2015;Mathewes et al 2016). Diverse and superbly preserved insect faunas are also characteristic of the Kishenehn Formation of southwest British Columbia and Montana (Constenius et al 1989;Greenwalt et al 2013Greenwalt et al , 2016, and Florissant in Colorado (Meyer and Smith 2005;Henning et al 2012) (Fig. 2).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…In contrast to the warm lowland assemblages, the Early Eocene fossil sites of the interior of British Columbia and Washington, coined the Okanagan Highlands, were likely at about 800-1200 m elevation (Wolfe et al 1998;Tribe 2005;Smith et al 2009) and represent a cooler temperate region in an otherwise warm world. In the Middle to Late Eocene Kishenehn Formation of southeast British Columbia and Montana and the Late Eocene at Florissant, Colorado, we see life after the warmth of the Early Eocene (e.g., Meyer and Smith 2005;Henning et al 2012;Greenwalt et al 2013Greenwalt et al , 2016Zaborac-Reed and Leopold 2016), as temperatures declined before the major global cooling event that ushered in the Oligocene (Zachos et al 2008). Researchers are interested in what evolutionary mechanisms allowed the establishment of successful groups of plants and animals capable of responding to a seasonal climate leading to the development of temperate deciduous broadleaf forests Pigg 2010, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Eocene paleontology and geology of western North America

2016

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Western North America preserves a rich record of Eocene life and environments under globally warm climates, and represents an interval where significant coal and other minerals were deposited. The Eocene is of interest to biologists and paleontologists for its record of the appearance and rise to dominance of many plant, insect, and mammal groups now typical of the temperate forests of North America, admixed with groups now well represented in tropical areas or restricted to eastern Asia. This record is also of interest for its potential contribution to our understanding of interactions between climate, the biota, and the ecosystems they occupied, under atmospheric carbon dioxide levels much higher than today. Documentation of the Eocene in western North America offers insights into the effects of future greenhouse climates. A special symposium held at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America in Vancouver, British Columbia, brought together geologists, paleontologists, and biologists with an interest in these questions. This paper introduces the special issue that includes a selection of papers drawn from that symposium as well as on related topics, spanning the Early to Late Eocene, and geographically from British Columbia to Colorado. Résumé :Un riche registre fossile de la vie et des milieux éocènes est préservé dans l'ouest de l'Amérique du Nord, qui représente un intervalle où d'importants gisements de charbon et d'autres minéraux ont été déposés dans des conditions climatiques planétaires chaudes. L'Éocène présente un intérêt pour les biologistes et les paléontologues en raison du registre qu'il conserve de l'apparition et de la montée en puissance de nombreux groupes de plantes, d'insectes et de mammifères aujourd'hui typiques des forêts tempérées de l'Amérique du Nord, coexistant avec des groupes aujourd'hui bien représentés dans les régions tropicales ou limités à l'est de l'Asie. Ce registre est aussi intéressant pour la contribution qu'il peut apporter à la compréhension des interactions entre le climat, les organismes vivants et les écosystèmes occupés par ces derniers dans des conditions de concentrations atmosphériques de dioxyde de carbone beaucoup plus élevées que les concentrations actuelles. La documentation de l'Éocène dans l'ouest de l'Amérique du Nord permet d'en apprendre davantage sur les effets de climats de serre futurs. Un symposium spécial qui s'est tenu au congrès annuel de 2014 de la Geological Society of America à Vancouver (ColombieBritannique) a réuni des géologues, paléontologues et biologistes intéressés par ces questions. L'article présente le numéro spécial qui comprend une sélection d'articles tirée de ce symposium, ainsi que des articles sur des sujets connexes, couvrant l'Éocène précoce à tardif et, sur le plan géographique, des régions allant de la Colombie-Britannique au Colorado. [Traduit par la Rédaction]

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Hemoglobin-derived porphyrins preserved in a Middle Eocene blood-engorged mosquito

Cited by 92 publications

References 29 publications

Fibres and cellular structures preserved in 75-million–year-old dinosaur specimens

Fibres and cellular structures preserved in 75-million–year-old dinosaur specimens

Chemical, experimental, and morphological evidence for diagenetically altered melanin in exceptionally preserved fossils

Eocene paleontology and geology of western North America

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