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Journal of the Geological Society; 2006; v. 163; issue.6; p. 897-900;
DOI: 10.1144/0016-76492006-070
© 2006 Geological Society of London

Short Communication

Molecular taphonomy of graptolites

NEAL S. GUPTA1, DEREK E.G. BRIGGS1 & RICHARD D. PANCOST2

1 1Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, PO Box 208109, New Haven, CT 06520-8109, USA (e-mail: neal.gupta@yale.edu)
2 2The School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TS, UK

Graptolites are important fossils in Early Palaeozoic assemblages. Preserved graptolite periderm consists dominantly of an aliphatic polymer, immune to base hydrolysis. It contains no protein even though its structure, and chemical analyses of the periderm of the living relative Rhabdopleura, indicate that it was originally collagen. This anomaly was previously interpreted as the result of replacement by macromolecular material from the surrounding sediment. New analyses suggest that the aliphatic composition of graptolite periderm reflects direct incorporation of lipids from the organism itself by in situ polymerization. A similar process may account for the preservation of most organic fossils.





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