scholarly journals On the edge of exceptional preservation: insights into the role of redox state in Burgess Shale-type taphonomic windows from the Mural Formation, Alberta, Canada

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 311-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik A. Sperling ◽  
Uwe Balthasar ◽  
Christian B. Skovsted
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Record ◽  
Iron Reduction ◽  
Redox State ◽  
Soft Tissues ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Early Paleozoic ◽  
Burgess Shale ◽  
Anoxic Conditions ◽  
Exceptional Preservation

Animals originated in the Neoproterozoic and ‘exploded’ into the fossil record in the Cambrian. The Cambrian also represents a high point in the animal fossil record for the preservation of soft tissues that are normally degraded. Specifically, fossils from Burgess Shale-type (BST) preservational windows give paleontologists an unparalleled view into early animal evolution. Why this time interval hosts such exceptional preservation, and why this preservational window declines in the early Paleozoic, have been long-standing questions. Anoxic conditions have been hypothesized to play a role in BST preservation, but recent geochemical investigations of these deposits have reached contradictory results with respect to the redox state of overlying bottom waters. Here, we report a multi-proxy geochemical study of the Lower Cambrian Mural Formation, Alberta, Canada. At the type section, the Mural Formation preserves rare recalcitrant organic tissues in shales that were deposited near storm wave base (a Tier 3 deposit; the worst level of soft-tissue preservation). The geochemical signature of this section shows little to no evidence of anoxic conditions, in contrast with published multi-proxy studies of more celebrated Tier 1 and 2 deposits. These data help confirm that ‘decay-limited’ BST biotas were deposited in more oxygenated conditions, and support a role for anoxic conditions in BST preservation. Finally, we discuss the role of iron reduction in BST preservation, including the formation of iron-rich clays and inducement of sealing seafloor carbonate cements. As oceans and sediment columns became more oxygenated and more sulfidic through the early Paleozoic, these geochemical changes may have helped close the BST taphonomic window.

The taphonomy and affinities of the problematic fossilMyoscolexfrom the Lower Cambrian Emu Bay Shale of South Australia

1997 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek E. G. Briggs ◽  
Christopher Nedin
Keyword(s):  
Muscle Tissue ◽  
Lower Cambrian ◽  
Soft Tissues ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Variable Number ◽  
Trunk Muscles ◽  
Burgess Shale ◽  
Organic Residues ◽  
Striking Contrast

Most of the specimens ofMyoscolex atelesGlaessner, 1979, the most abundant soft-bodied taxon in the Big Gully fauna from the Lower Cambrian Emu Bay Shale of South Australia, preserveonlythe phosphatized trunk muscles, in striking contrast to the organic residues that characterize other Burgess-Shale-type biotas. This is the oldest phosphatized muscle tissue and the first thus far reported from the Cambrian. The extent of phosphatization implies a source in addition to the animal itself, and this is reflected in high levels of phosphate in the Big Gully sequence compared to other shales. The apparent anomaly posed by the extensive preservation of labile muscle tissue as opposed to the more decay resistant cuticle is explained by the role of bacterial processes in the preservation of soft tissues. New specimens ofMyoscolexreveal a variable number of trunk somites with possible tergites, and flap-like appendages. There is evidence for at least three eyes on the head, and a proboscis may have been present. An annelid affinity is rejected andMyoscolexis reinterpreted as anOpabinia-likeanimal with possible affinities with the arachnomorph arthropods.

scholarly journals Early formation and taphonomic significance of kaolinite associated with Burgess Shale fossils

Geology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 355-359
Author(s):  
Ross P. Anderson ◽  
Nicholas J. Tosca ◽  
Erin E. Saupe ◽  
Jon Wade ◽  
Derek E.G. Briggs
Keyword(s):  
Soft Tissue ◽  
Soft Tissues ◽  
Heterotrophic Bacteria ◽  
Burgess Shale ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Shale Formation ◽  
Area X

Abstract The role of minerals in Burgess Shale–type fossilization is controversial, particularly that of the clay mineral kaolinite. Kaolinite may have formed on carcasses or attached to them as they decayed, stabilizing organic matter. Alternatively, kaolinite may have formed during metamorphism, playing no role in the preservation of soft tissues. Evaluating the formation and taphonomic role of kaolinite is difficult, because the mineralogy of Burgess Shale–type fossils is incompletely known. We used in situ selected-area X-ray diffraction to constrain the mineralogy of fossils from the classic Burgess Shale Formation in British Columbia, Canada. Fossils can be distinguished from the matrix that surrounds them by the presence of dolomite, kaolinite, and pyrite. Chlorite may be more abundant in the matrix. The preferential survival of kaolinite in association with fossils provides evidence of early diagenetic clay-organic interactions that protected the clay from metamorphic transformation. Kaolinite likely played a crucial role in fossilization, inhibiting the growth of heterotrophic bacteria and aiding polymerization of soft tissue biomolecules. This may result in biases in soft-tissue preservation to areas and times where kaolinite was prevalent.

scholarly journals Exceptional preservation and the fossil record of tetrapod integument

2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1862) ◽  
pp. 20170556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chad M. Eliason ◽  
Leah Hudson ◽  
Taylor Watts ◽  
Hector Garza ◽  
Julia A. Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Record ◽  
Soft Tissues ◽  
Depositional Environments ◽  
Marine Environments ◽  
Exceptional Preservation ◽  
Sampling Intensity ◽  
Abiotic Controls ◽  
Heterogeneous Tissues ◽  
Novel Structures ◽  
Insight Into

The fossil record of exceptionally preserved soft tissues in Konservat-Lagerstätten provides rare yet significant insight into past behaviours and ecologies. Such deposits are known to occur in bursts rather than evenly through time, but reasons for this pattern and implications for the origins of novel structures remain unclear. Previous assessments of these records focused on marine environments preserving chemically heterogeneous tissues from across animals. Here, we investigate the preservation of skin and keratinous integumentary structures in land-dwelling vertebrates (tetrapods) through time, and in distinct terrestrial and marine depositional environments. We also evaluate previously proposed biotic and abiotic controls on the distribution of 143 tetrapod Konservat-Lagerstätten from the Permian to the Pleistocene in a multivariate framework. Gap analyses taking into account sampling intensity and distribution indicate that feathers probably evolved close to their first appearance in the fossil record. By contrast, hair and archosaur filaments are weakly sampled (five times less common than feathers), and their origins may significantly pre-date earliest known occurrences in the fossil record. This work suggests that among-integument variation in preservation can bias the reconstructed first origins of integumentary novelties and has implications for predicting where, and in what depositional environments, to expect further discoveries of exquisitely preserved tetrapod integument.

A New ?lamellipedian arthropod from the Early Cambrian Sirius Passet Fauna of North Greenland

2009 ◽  
Vol 83 (5) ◽  
pp. 820-825 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Lagebro ◽  
Martin Stein ◽  
John S. Peel
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Soft Tissues ◽  
Early Cambrian ◽  
Burgess Shale ◽  
Exceptional Preservation ◽  
Geological Setting ◽  
North Greenland

The Non-Mineralized arthropod described herein is derived from the Sirius Passet fossil conservation deposit of North Greenland (82°47.6,N, 42°13.7ʹW), the oldest locality with exceptional preservation of soft tissues known from the Cambrian of Laurentia (Cambrian Series 2, Stage 3; Nevadella Zone). As such, it is broadly contemporaneous with the Chengjiang fauna of China (Hou et al., 2004) and some 10 million years older than the Burgess Shale fauna of British Columbia. The Sirius Passet fauna was first documented by Conway Morris et al. (1987) and its geological setting is discussed by Babcock and Peel (2007). In addition to the nevadiid trilobite Buenellus higginsi Blaker, 1988, the fauna is dominated by non-mineralized arthropods (Budd, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999; Williams et al., 1996; Taylor, 2002). Other finds include sponges (Rigby, 1986), a lobopod (Budd and Peel, 1998), the earliest annelids (Conway Morris and Peel, 2008) and articulated halkieriids (Conway Morris and Peel, 1990, 1995), but most of the assemblage awaits description.

EXCEPTIONAL PRESERVATION OF SOFT TISSUES BY MICROBIAL ENTOMBMENT: INSIGHTS INTO THE TAPHONOMY OF THE CRATO KONSERVAT-LAGERSTÄTTE

Palaios ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 331-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
FILIPE G. VAREJÃO ◽  
LUCAS V. WARREN ◽  
MARCELLO G. SIMÕES ◽  
FRANZ T. FÜRSICH ◽  
SUZANA A. MATOS ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Microbial Mats ◽  
Soft Tissues ◽  
Decapod Crustaceans ◽  
Exceptional Preservation ◽  
Fossil Preservation ◽  
Taxonomic Studies ◽  
Organic Remains

ABSTRACTThe Aptian Crato Konservat-Lagerstätte is renowned for its exceptionally preserved fossils in lacustrine laminated limestones. Although previous works on this site include numerous taxonomic studies, its taphonomy remains a subject of debate. Herein, we present new data on the taphonomy of decapod crustaceans preserved in wrinkle laminites, highlighting the role of microbial mats in enhancing fossil preservation. Our results suggest that benthic microorganisms may have promoted protection and organic mineralization of some of the allochthonous to parautochthonous organic remains within the microbial laminites of the Crato lake. Overall, this work provides the first empirical evidence that the preservational pathways of the fossils in the Crato Konservat-Lagerstätte involved microbial mats.

scholarly journals Burgess Shale fossils shed light on the agnostid problem

2019 ◽  
Vol 286 (1894) ◽  
pp. 20182314 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Moysiuk ◽  
J.-B. Caron
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Digestive Tract ◽  
Soft Tissues ◽  
Sister Group ◽  
Burgess Shale ◽  
Middle Cambrian ◽  
Important Group ◽  
Alternative Hypotheses ◽  
Shed Light

Agnostids (agnostinids and eodiscinids) are a widespread and biostratigraphically important group of Cambro-Ordovician euarthropods whose evolutionary affinities have been highly controversial. Their dumbbell-shaped calcified tergum was traditionally suggested to unite them with trilobites, but agnostinids have alternatively been interpreted as stem-crustaceans, based on Orsten larval material from the Cambrian of Sweden. We describe exceptionally preserved soft tissues from mature individuals of the agnostinids Peronopsis and Ptychagnostus from the middle Cambrian (Wuliuan Stage) Burgess Shale (Walcott Quarry and Marble Canyon, British Columbia, Canada), facilitating the testing of alternative hypotheses. The digestive tract includes conspicuous ramifying cephalic diverticulae. The cephalon carries one pair of elongate spinous antennules projecting to the front, two pairs of appendages with distally setose, oar-like exopods, and three pairs of presumably biramous appendages with endopods sporting club-shaped exites. The trunk bears five appendage pairs, at least the first two of which are similar to the posteriormost cephalic pairs. The combined evidence supports a nektobenthic and detritivorous lifestyle for agnostinids. A head with six appendiferous segments contrasts strikingly with the four known in trilobites and five typical of mandibulates. Agnostinids are retrieved as the sister group to polymeroid trilobites in our phylogeny, implying that crustacean-like morphologies evolved homoplastically. This result highlights the variability in segmental composition of the artiopodan head. Finally, our study emphasizes the continued role of Burgess Shale-type fossils in resolving the affinities of problematic biomineralizing taxa.

Effect of Dipyridamole on Spontaneous Platelet Aggregation in Whole Blood Decreases with the Time After Venepuncture: Evidence for the Role of ADP

1987 ◽  
Vol 58 (02) ◽  
pp. 744-748 ◽  
Author(s):  
A R Saniabadi ◽  
G D O Lowe ◽  
J C Barbenel ◽  
C D Forbes
Keyword(s):  
Platelet Aggregation ◽  
Correlation Coefficient ◽  
Whole Blood ◽  
Blood Platelet ◽  
Inhibitory Effect ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Adp Receptor ◽  
Spontaneous Platelet Aggregation

SummarySpontaneous platelet aggregation (SPA) was studied in human whole blood at 3, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 60 minutes after venepuncture. Using a whole blood platelet counter, SPA was quantified by measuring the fall in single platelet count upon rollermixing aliquots of citrated blood at 37° C. The extent of SPA increased with the time after venepuncture, with a correlation coefficient of 0.819. The inhibitory effect of dipyridamole (Dipy) on SPA was studied: (a) 10 μM at each time interval; (b) 0.5-100 μM at 3 and 30 minutes and (c) 15 μM in combination with 100 μM adenosine, 8 μM 2-chloroadenosine (2ClAd, an ADP receptor blocker) and 50 μM aspirin. There was a rapid decrease in the inhibitory effect of Dipy with the time after venepuncture; the correlation coefficient was -0.533. At all the concentrations studied, Dipy was more effective at 3 minutes than at 30 minutes after venepuncture. A combination of Dipy with adenosine, 2ClAd or aspirin was a more effective inhibitor of SPA than either drug alone. However, when 15 μM Dipy and 10 μM Ad were added together, the inhibitory effect of Dipy was not increased significantly, suggesting that Dipy inhibits platelet aggregation independent of Ad. The increase in SPA with the time after venepuncture was abolished when blood was taken directly into the anticoagulant containing 5 μM 2ClAd. It is suggested that ADP released from the red blood cells is responsible for the increased platelet aggregability with the time after venepuncture and makes a serious contribution to the artifacts of in vitro platelet function studies.

Redox State in Atrial Fibrillation Pathogenesis and Relevant Therapeutic Approaches

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 765-779 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexios S. Antonopoulos ◽  
Athina Goliopoulou ◽  
Evangelos Oikonomou ◽  
Sotiris Tsalamandris ◽  
Georgios-Angelos Papamikroulis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atrial Fibrillation ◽  
Clinical Studies ◽  
Redox State ◽  
Redox Balance ◽  
Therapeutic Approaches ◽  
Critical Determinant ◽  
Electrophysiological Properties ◽  
Antioxidant Agents ◽  
Clinical Benefits

Background: Myocardial redox state is a critical determinant of atrial biology, regulating cardiomyocyte apoptosis, ion channel function, and cardiac hypertrophy/fibrosis and function. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether the targeting of atrial redox state is a rational therapeutic strategy for atrial fibrillation prevention. Objective: To review the role of atrial redox state and anti-oxidant therapies in atrial fibrillation. Method: Published literature in Medline was searched for experimental and clinical evidence linking myocardial redox state with atrial fibrillation pathogenesis as well as studies looking into the role of redoxtargeting therapies in the prevention of atrial fibrillation. Results: Data from animal models have shown that altered myocardial nitroso-redox balance and NADPH oxidases activity are causally involved in the pathogenesis of atrial fibrillation. Similarly experimental animal data supports that increased reactive oxygen / nitrogen species formation in the atrial tissue is associated with altered electrophysiological properties of atrial myocytes and electrical remodeling, favoring atrial fibrillation development. In humans, randomized clinical studies using redox-related therapeutic approaches (e.g. statins or antioxidant agents) have not documented any benefits in the prevention of atrial fibrillation development (mainly post-operative atrial fibrillation risk). Conclusion: Despite strong experimental and translational data supporting the role of atrial redox state in atrial fibrillation pathogenesis, such mechanistic evidence has not been translated to clinical benefits in atrial fibrillation risk in randomized clinical studies using redox-related therapies.

scholarly journals Biogeochemical Controls on the Redox Evolution of Earth’s Oceans and Atmosphere

Elements ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 191-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher T. Reinhard ◽  
Noah J. Planavsky
Keyword(s):  
Redox State ◽  
Modeling Tools ◽  
Evolutionary Trajectory ◽  
Geochemical Tracers ◽  
Atmosphere System ◽  
Ocean Atmosphere ◽  
Dramatic Shift ◽  
Redox Evolution

The redox state of Earth’s atmosphere has undergone a dramatic shift over geologic time from reducing to strongly oxidizing, and this shift has been coupled with changes in ocean redox structure and the size and activity of Earth’s biosphere. Delineating this evolutionary trajectory remains a major problem in Earth system science. Significant insights have emerged through the application of redox-sensitive geochemical systems. Existing and emerging biogeochemical modeling tools are pushing the limits of the quantitative constraints on ocean–atmosphere redox that can be extracted from geochemical tracers. This work is honing our understanding of the central role of Earth’s biosphere in shaping the long-term redox evolution of the ocean–atmosphere system.

scholarly journals Astral hydrogels mimic tissue mechanics by aster-aster interpenetration

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qingqiao Xie ◽  
Yuandi Zhuang ◽  
Gaojun Ye ◽  
Tiankuo Wang ◽  
Yi Cao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Common Core ◽  
Self Assembly ◽  
Master Curve ◽  
Soft Tissues ◽  
Tissue Mechanics ◽  
Fresh Perspective ◽  
Single Master Curve ◽  
Unique Mechanism ◽  
Gel Network

AbstractMany soft tissues are compression-stiffening and extension-softening in response to axial strains, but common hydrogels are either inert (for ideal chains) or tissue-opposite (for semiflexible polymers). Herein, we report a class of astral hydrogels that are structurally distinct from tissues but mechanically tissue-like. Specifically, hierarchical self-assembly of amphiphilic gemini molecules produces radial asters with a common core and divergently growing, semiflexible ribbons; adjacent asters moderately interpenetrate each other via interlacement of their peripheral ribbons to form a gel network. Resembling tissues, the astral gels stiffen in compression and soften in extension with all the experimental data across different gel compositions collapsing onto a single master curve. We put forward a minimal model to reproduce the master curve quantitatively, underlying the determinant role of aster-aster interpenetration. Compression significantly expands the interpenetration region, during which the number of effective crosslinks is increased and the network strengthened, while extension does the opposite. Looking forward, we expect this unique mechanism of interpenetration to provide a fresh perspective for designing and constructing mechanically tissue-like materials.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document