scholarly journals Distinguishing Biology from Geology in Soft-Tissue Preservation

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 275-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Cunningham ◽  
Philip C. J. Donoghue ◽  
Stefan Bengtson
Keyword(s):  
Soft Tissue ◽  
Laser Beam ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Soft Tissues ◽  
Analytical Techniques ◽  
Tissue Preservation ◽  
Deep Time ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Soft Tissue Preservation

Knowledge of evolutionary history is based extensively on relatively rare fossils that preserve soft tissues. These fossils record a much greater proportion of anatomy than would be known solely from mineralized remains and provide key data for testing evolutionary hypotheses in deep time. Ironically, however, exceptionally preserved fossils are often among the most contentious because they are difficult to interpret. This is because their morphology has invariably been affected by the processes of decay and diagenesis, meaning that it is often difficult to distinguish preserved biology from artifacts introduced by these processes. Here we describe how a range of analytical techniques can be used to tease apart mineralization that preserves biological structures from unrelated geological mineralization phases. This approach involves using a series of X-ray, ion, electron and laser beam techniques to characterize the texture and chemistry of the different phases so that they can be differentiated in material that is difficult to interpret. This approach is demonstrated using a case study of its application to the study of fossils from the Ediacaran Doushantuo Biota.

scholarly journals Checklist and Scoring System for the Assessment of Soft Tissue Preservation in CT Examinations of Human Mummies: Application to the Tyrolean Iceman

2017 ◽  
Vol 189 (12) ◽  
pp. 1152-1160
Author(s):  
Stephanie Panzer ◽  
Patrizia Pernter ◽  
Dario Piombino-Mascali ◽  
Rimantas Jankauskas ◽  
Stephanie Zesch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soft Tissue ◽  
Scoring System ◽  
Soft Tissues ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
Slice Thickness ◽  
Tissue Preservation ◽  
Soft Tissue Preservation ◽  
Whole Body Ct ◽  
Organ Systems ◽  
Tyrolean Iceman

Purpose Soft tissues make a skeleton into a mummy and they allow for a diagnosis beyond osteology. Following the approach of structured reporting in clinical radiology, a recently developed checklist was used to evaluate the soft tissue preservation status of the Tyrolean Iceman using computed tomography (CT). The purpose of this study was to apply the “Checklist and Scoring System for the Assessment of Soft Tissue Preservation in CT Examinations of Human Mummies” to the Tyrolean Iceman, and to compare the Iceman’s soft tissue preservation score to the scores calculated for other mummies. Materials and Methods A whole-body (CT) (SOMATOM Definition Flash, Siemens, Forchheim, Germany) consisting of five scans, performed in January 2013 in the Department of Radiodiagnostics, Central Hospital, Bolzano, was used (slice thickness 0.6 mm; kilovolt ranging from 80 to 140). For standardized evaluation the “CT Checklist and Scoring System for the Assessment of Soft Tissue Preservation in Human Mummies” was used. Results All checkpoints under category “A. Soft Tissues of Head and Musculoskeletal System” and more than half in category “B. Organs and Organ Systems” were observed. The scoring system accounted for a total score of 153 (out of 200). The comparison of the scores between the Iceman and three mummy collections from Vilnius, Lithuania, and Palermo, Sicily, as well as one Egyptian mummy resulted in overall higher soft tissue preservation scores for the Iceman. Conclusion Application of the checklist allowed for standardized assessment and documentation of the Iceman’s soft tissue preservation status. The scoring system allowed for a quantitative comparison between the Iceman and other mummies. The Iceman showed remarkable soft tissue preservation. Key Points  Citation Format

scholarly journals Evidence for mummification in Bronze Age Britain

Antiquity ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 79 (305) ◽  
pp. 529-546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Parker Pearson ◽  
Andrew Chamberlain ◽  
Oliver Craig ◽  
Peter Marshall ◽  
Jacqui Mulville ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soft Tissue ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Soft Tissues ◽  
Narrow Range ◽  
Tissue Preservation ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Post Mortem ◽  
Old World ◽  
Soft Tissue Preservation ◽  
The Bronze Age

Ancient Egyptians are thought to have been the only people in the Old World who were practising mummification in the Bronze Age (c. 2200-700 BC). But now a remarkable series of finds from a remote Scottish island indicates that Ancient Britons were performing similar, if less elaborate, practices of bodily preservation. Evidence of mummification is usually limited to a narrow range of arid or frozen environments which are conducive to soft tissue preservation. Mike Parker Pearson and his team show that a combination of microstructural, contextual and AMS 14C analysis of bone allows the identification of mummification in more temperate and wetter climates where soft tissues and fabrics do not normally survive. Skeletons from Cladh Hallan on South Uist, Western Isles, Scotland were buried several hundred years after death, and the skeletons provide evidence of post mortem manipulation of body parts. Perhaps these practices were widespread in mainland Britain during the Bronze Age.

scholarly journals Experimental Decay of Soft Tissues

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 259-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert S. Sansom
Keyword(s):  
Soft Tissue ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Soft Tissues ◽  
Tissue Preservation ◽  
Morphological Transformation ◽  
Decay Data ◽  
Soft Tissue Preservation ◽  
Design Variables ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Experimental Decay

The exceptionally preserved fossil record of soft tissues sheds light on a wide range of evolutionary episodes from across geological history. Understanding how soft tissues become hard fossils is not a trivial process. A powerful tool in this context is experimentally derived decay data. By studying decay in a laboratory setting and on a laboratory timescale, an understanding of the processes and patterns underlying soft-tissue preservation can be achieved. The considerations and problems particular to experimental decay are explored here in terms of experimental aims, design, variables, and utility. Aims in this context can relate to either reconstruction of the processes of soft-tissue preservation, or to elucidation of the patterns of morphological transformation and data loss occurring during decay. Experimental design is discussed in terms of hypotheses and relevant variables: i.e., the subject organism being decayed (phylogeny, ontogeny, and history), the environment of decay (biological, chemical, and physical) and the outputs (how to measure decay). Variables and practical considerations are illustrated with reference to previous experiments. The principles behind application of experimentally derived decay data to the fossil record are illustrated with three case studies: the interpretation of fossil color, feasibility of fossil embryos, and phylogenetic bias in chordate preservation. A rich array of possibilities for further decay experiments exists and it is hoped that the methodologies outlined herein will provide guidance and a conceptual framework for future studies.

scholarly journals Taphonomic characteristics of fossils on the burgessshale-type spectrum

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jesse S. Broce
Keyword(s):  
Soft Tissue ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Soft Tissues ◽  
Tissue Preservation ◽  
Soft Tissue Preservation ◽  
The Past ◽  
Type Spectrum ◽  
Fossil Preservation ◽  
Available Information ◽  
Evolutionary Lineages

"Study of exceptional fossil preservation tends to yield exciting results. Since soft-bodied organisms and the soft tissues of biomineralizing organisms are usually not preserved in the fossil record, instances of soft-tissue preservation are of immense value to paleontology and biology. Anatomical details of soft tissues are invaluable for understanding the phylogenetic relationships between organisms, as well as interpreting their life modes. Soft-bodied organisms are not only valuable phylogenetically, but they also are important members of ecological community structure. Without soft-tissue preservation, the interpretation of past environments, ecologies, and evolutionary lineages becomes extremely limited. That soft-tissue preservation is relatively rare is an unfortunate phenomenon that not only decreases the amount of available information, but also imposes biases on our understanding of the past. Soft-bodied organisms represent the vast majority of diversity, but are the minority of diversity in the fossil record. In fact, only about 30% of modern marine benthic macroorganisms contain hard parts suitable for easy preservation (Johnson, 1964) and in the Phyllopod Bed of the Cambrian Burgess Shale, only about 14% of species or 2% of individuals have hard parts (Morris, 1986), and consequently would not be preserved in most fossiliferous deposits." -- Introduction

SEDIMENT COMPOSITION OF BURGESS SHALE TYPE LAGERSTÄTTEN: IMPLICATIONS FOR SOFT-TISSUE PRESERVATION

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross P. Anderson ◽  
◽  
Nicholas J. Tosca ◽  
Robert R. Gaines ◽  
Derek E.G. Briggs
Keyword(s):  
Soft Tissue ◽  
Tissue Preservation ◽  
Burgess Shale ◽  
Sediment Composition ◽  
Soft Tissue Preservation

scholarly journals High Throughput Screening and Characterization Methods of Jordanian Oil Shale as a Case Study

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (16) ◽  
pp. 3148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ziad Abu El-Rub ◽  
Joanna Kujawa ◽  
Esra’a Albarahmieh ◽  
Nafisah Al-Rifai ◽  
Fathieh Qaimari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Throughput Screening ◽  
Oil Shale ◽  
Analytical Techniques ◽  
Economic Feasibility ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
Scanning Calorimetry ◽  
Characterization Methods ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Hydrogen Mass

Oil shale is an important possible solution to the problem of energy in Jordan. To explore the technical and the economic feasibility of oil shale deposits, numerous samples are analyzed using the standard Fischer Assay (FA) method. However, it would be useful to develop faster, cheaper, and reliable methods for determining the oil content of oil shale. Therefore, the aim of this work was to propose and investigate rapid analytical techniques for the screening of oil shale deposits and to correlate them with the FA method. The Omari deposit located east of Jordan was selected as a case study for analysis using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) coupled with Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), elemental analysis, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis. Results obtained from the TGA method were linearly correlated with FA with high regression factor (R2 = 0.99); a quadratic correlation (R2 = 0.98) was maintained between the FA and the elemental hydrogen mass content, and a quadratic correlation (R2 = 0.97) was found between the FA and the aliphatic hydrocarbons (FTIR peak at 2927 cm−1) produced in the pyrolysis zone. Although other techniques were less correlated, further investigation might lead to better results. Subsequently, these correlated techniques can be a practical alternative to the conventional FA method when, in particular, specific correlation is made for each deposit.

scholarly journals Exceptional appendage and soft-tissue preservation in a Middle Triassic horseshoe crab from SW China

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shixue Hu ◽  
Qiyue Zhang ◽  
Rodney M. Feldmann ◽  
Michael J. Benton ◽  
Carrie E. Schweitzer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soft Tissue ◽  
Horseshoe Crab ◽  
Middle Triassic ◽  
Tissue Preservation ◽  
Sw China ◽  
Soft Tissue Preservation
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