{"title":"Large, unwebbed bird and bird‐like footprints from the Mesozoic and Cenozoic: a review of ichnotaxonomy and trackmaker affinity","authors":"M. Lockley, N. Abbassi, Charles W. Helm","doi":"10.1111/let.12458","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/let.12458","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":49912,"journal":{"name":"Lethaia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2021-12-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86195381","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Ferruginous casts of bromalites in kaolin beds: microbial ferrihydrite‐goethite transformation as early stage taphonomy in lacustrine and riparian sediments","authors":"P. Broughton","doi":"10.1111/let.12455","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/let.12455","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":49912,"journal":{"name":"Lethaia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2021-12-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72801312","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
P. Cruzado-Caballero, J. Canudo, S. de Valais, J. Frigola, E. Barriuso, J. Fortuny
Bioerosions produced by the osteophagous diet of animals that fed on dinosaur bones are very scarce in the European fossil record. Herein we present bioerosion on hadrosaurid remains from the Maastrichtian Tremp Formation of the Pyrenean Basin, which is only the second such case recorded from the Iberian‐Occitan Plate besides a sauropod from the Jurassic‐Cretaceous of Valencia. The hadrosaurid fossil record is particularly rich in the Blasi sites of the Tremp Formation located in the municipality of Arén (Huesca, Spain). In this article, bones referred to the hadrosaurid Arenysaurus ardevoli from the Blasi‐3 site are analysed to shed light on the palaeoenvironment and on the presence of a palaeoecological interaction between the hadrosaurid carcase and osteophagous tracemakers. Bioerosions recorded on the bones comprise tunnels, roundish holes, and straight notches, similar to the traces attributed to necrophagous insects (cf. Cuniculichnus seilacheri). Here, we record the first instance of the activity of these animals on dinosaur bones in the Upper Cretaceous of the Ibero‐Occitan Plate. The results presented lead us to infer that the Arenysaurus bones were possibly transported by a storm or similar event to the Blasi‐3 site, where they were exposed to post‐mortem biotic interactions (eaten and partially decomposed by dermestid beetles) for a prolonged time period before they were completely buried. □ dermestid, hadrosaurid, Ibero‐Occitan Plate, necrophagous, taphonomy.
{"title":"Bioerosion and palaeoecological association of osteophagous insects in the Maastrichtian dinosaur\u0000 Arenysaurus ardevoli","authors":"P. Cruzado-Caballero, J. Canudo, S. de Valais, J. Frigola, E. Barriuso, J. Fortuny","doi":"10.1111/let.12456","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/let.12456","url":null,"abstract":"Bioerosions produced by the osteophagous diet of animals that fed on dinosaur bones are very scarce in the European fossil record. Herein we present bioerosion on hadrosaurid remains from the Maastrichtian Tremp Formation of the Pyrenean Basin, which is only the second such case recorded from the Iberian‐Occitan Plate besides a sauropod from the Jurassic‐Cretaceous of Valencia. The hadrosaurid fossil record is particularly rich in the Blasi sites of the Tremp Formation located in the municipality of Arén (Huesca, Spain). In this article, bones referred to the hadrosaurid Arenysaurus ardevoli from the Blasi‐3 site are analysed to shed light on the palaeoenvironment and on the presence of a palaeoecological interaction between the hadrosaurid carcase and osteophagous tracemakers. Bioerosions recorded on the bones comprise tunnels, roundish holes, and straight notches, similar to the traces attributed to necrophagous insects (cf. Cuniculichnus seilacheri). Here, we record the first instance of the activity of these animals on dinosaur bones in the Upper Cretaceous of the Ibero‐Occitan Plate. The results presented lead us to infer that the Arenysaurus bones were possibly transported by a storm or similar event to the Blasi‐3 site, where they were exposed to post‐mortem biotic interactions (eaten and partially decomposed by dermestid beetles) for a prolonged time period before they were completely buried. □ dermestid, hadrosaurid, Ibero‐Occitan Plate, necrophagous, taphonomy.","PeriodicalId":49912,"journal":{"name":"Lethaia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2021-12-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88494572","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A sting in the tale of\u0000 Parioscorpio venator\u0000 from the Silurian of Wisconsin: is it a cheloniellid arthropod?","authors":"S. Braddy, J. Dunlop","doi":"10.1111/let.12457","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/let.12457","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":49912,"journal":{"name":"Lethaia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2021-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72917643","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-12-01Epub Date: 2021-07-22DOI: 10.1111/let.12436
Giuseppe Marramà, Giorgio Carnevale, Jürgen Kriwet
Over the last few years, the morphology, taxonomy and systematics of the cartilaginous fish taxa of the two main sites of the Bolca Lagerstätte, Italy, (Pesciara and Monte Postale sites) have been extensively discussed in a series of papers, resulting in a complete revision of this neglected component of the Eocene Tethyan ichthyofauna. Here, we provide a comprehensive overview of the diversity, palaeoecology and palaeoenvironmental significance of the two chondrichthyan assemblages of the Pesciara and Monte Postale sites. The assemblages include 14 shark species (Lamniformes and Carcharhiniformes) and batoids (Torpediniformes, Rhinopristiformes, Myliobatiformes, Platyrhinidae and Zanobatidae), as well as a single putative chimaeriform. The Pesciara and Monte Postale sites are characterized by eight chondrichthyan taxa each, but the taxonomic compositions are distinctly different reflecting the dissimilarities in the overall composition of both fish assemblages. Palaeoecological interpretations and habitat preferences of the two chondrichthyan assemblages are consistent with previously hypothesized palaeoenvironmental settings based on sedimentological, palaeontological and geochemical evidence. The chondrichthyan assemblages of the two sites appear to be constituted by ecologically vicariant taxa, with both characterized by a predominance of benthic species with durophagous/cancritrophic feeding modes. Taxonomic composition, habitat preferences and palaeobathymetric analyses support the hypothesis that both assemblages occupied tropical marine shallow waters (likely up to 50 m deep) of the inner portion of the Lessini Shelf. The taxonomic composition of both sites is considerably different from that of any other contemporaneous Tethyan and Boreal chondrichthyan assemblages.
{"title":"Diversity, palaeoecology and palaeoenvironmental significance of the Eocene chondrichthyan assemblages of the Bolca Lagerstätte, Italy.","authors":"Giuseppe Marramà, Giorgio Carnevale, Jürgen Kriwet","doi":"10.1111/let.12436","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/let.12436","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Over the last few years, the morphology, taxonomy and systematics of the cartilaginous fish taxa of the two main sites of the Bolca Lagerstätte, Italy, (Pesciara and Monte Postale sites) have been extensively discussed in a series of papers, resulting in a complete revision of this neglected component of the Eocene Tethyan ichthyofauna. Here, we provide a comprehensive overview of the diversity, palaeoecology and palaeoenvironmental significance of the two chondrichthyan assemblages of the Pesciara and Monte Postale sites. The assemblages include 14 shark species (Lamniformes and Carcharhiniformes) and batoids (Torpediniformes, Rhinopristiformes, Myliobatiformes, Platyrhinidae and Zanobatidae), as well as a single putative chimaeriform. The Pesciara and Monte Postale sites are characterized by eight chondrichthyan taxa each, but the taxonomic compositions are distinctly different reflecting the dissimilarities in the overall composition of both fish assemblages. Palaeoecological interpretations and habitat preferences of the two chondrichthyan assemblages are consistent with previously hypothesized palaeoenvironmental settings based on sedimentological, palaeontological and geochemical evidence. The chondrichthyan assemblages of the two sites appear to be constituted by ecologically vicariant taxa, with both characterized by a predominance of benthic species with durophagous/cancritrophic feeding modes. Taxonomic composition, habitat preferences and palaeobathymetric analyses support the hypothesis that both assemblages occupied tropical marine shallow waters (likely up to 50 m deep) of the inner portion of the Lessini Shelf. The taxonomic composition of both sites is considerably different from that of any other contemporaneous Tethyan and Boreal chondrichthyan assemblages.</p>","PeriodicalId":49912,"journal":{"name":"Lethaia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2021-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/let.12436","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40630044","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Ecology, morphology and ontogeny of\u0000 Paleolimulus kunguricus\u0000 —a horseshoe crab from the Kungurian (Cisuralian) of the Cis‐Urals, Russia","authors":"S. Naugolnykh, R. Bicknell","doi":"10.1111/let.12451","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/let.12451","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":49912,"journal":{"name":"Lethaia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2021-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77492226","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The ichnogenera Syringomorpha and Daedalus are here interpreted as products of infaunal biofilm harvesters. This study investigated: (1) Syringomorpha nilssoni and Syringomorpha isp. from the Cambrian Series 2‐Miaolingian Campanario Formation, northwest Argentina; and (2) Daedalus halli from the Floian Grès et Schistes de la Cluse de l’Orb Formation, Montagne Noire, France. Syringomorpha nilssoni occurs in sandy to mixed intertidal to lower shoreface deposits, whereas Syringomorpha isp. in the lower intertidal zone. Daedalus halli occurs in a lagoon and intertidal to lower shoreface sands of a barrier island. Syringomorpha and Daedalus comprise a vertical J‐shaped causative burrow and deep spreite. These ichnotaxa form monospecific assemblages (bioturbation index BI = 3–5) in quartzose medium‐ to fine‐grained sandstone, recording colonization in high‐energy tide‐and wave‐dominated settings. Lower abundances (BI = 1–2) are observed in silty sandstone. The abundance of both ichnogenera in mature sandstone is inconsistent with a classic deposit‐feeding strategy because ‘clean’ sediments are commonly impoverished of organic detritus, this being particularly true in Cambro‐ Ordovician littoral settings lacking terrestrial plant detritus. Based on morphology, host sediment properties and comparison with modern structures, such those produced on intertidal and shallow subtidal setting by Arenicola marina and Paraonis fulgens , it is suggested that the diet of Syringomorpha and Daedalus producers may have consisted of biofilms colonising sand grains, associated eukaryotic microbes, and possibly meio- fauna. Whereas Syringomorpha is a product of the Cambrian explosion, Daedalus is associated with the Ordovician Radiation. In contrast to most ichnotaxa, which dis- play long temporal ranges, these two ichnogenera are restricted to the Cambrian and Ordovician‐Silurian, respectively. The underlying reasons for the relatively restricted stratigraphic ranges of these ichnotaxa are unclear, but space competition, and increased predation pressure may have played a role. The feeding strategy of the Daedalus and Syringomorpha producers was less efficient than suspension feeding and passive predation, trophic types epitomized by the dominant macroinfauna that persisted in water‐agitated nearshore sands during the rest of the Phanerozoic. □ Biofilm harvesters, Cambrian explosion, meiofaunal hunters, Ordovician Radiation, trace fossils.
水蛭属和代达罗斯属在这里被解释为水生生物膜收割机的产物。本研究调查:(1)紫丁香和紫丁香。来自阿根廷西北部寒武系2‐妙岭期Campanario组;(2)代达罗斯halli，产自法国黑山地区弗洛里安grois et Schistes de la Cluse de l 'Orb Formation。尼尔松紫杉生长在砂质到混合潮间带到低滨面沉积物中，而尼尔松紫杉生长在沙质到混合潮间带到低滨面沉积物中。在低潮间带。代达罗斯哈利发生在一个泻湖和潮间带，以降低堰洲岛的滨沙。紫丁香属和代达罗斯属包括一个垂直的J形致病洞和深纹。这些鱼类群在石英中至细粒砂岩中形成单特异性组合(生物扰动指数BI = 3-5)，记录了在高能潮汐和波浪主导环境下的定殖。在粉质砂岩中观察到较低的丰度(BI = 1-2)。成熟砂岩中这两种鱼属的丰度与经典的沉积物取食策略不一致，因为“干净”的沉积物通常缺乏有机碎屑，在缺乏陆生植物碎屑的寒武纪-奥陶系沿岸环境中尤其如此。根据形态、寄主沉积物特征以及与现代结构的比较，例如在潮间带和浅潮下环境中由Arenicola marina和Paraonis fulgens产生的结构，我们认为Syringomorpha和Daedalus生产者的饮食可能包括定殖沙粒的生物膜，相关的真核微生物，可能还有减数动物。紫金花是寒武纪大爆发的产物，代达罗斯则与奥陶纪大爆发有关。这两个鱼属分别局限于寒武纪和奥陶系—志留纪，而大多数鱼属的分布范围较长。这些鱼类群相对狭窄的地层范围的潜在原因尚不清楚，但空间竞争和捕食压力的增加可能起了作用。代达勒斯和紫藻的摄食策略比悬浮摄食和被动捕食效率低，在显生宙的其余时间里，主要的大型动物持续存在于水激荡的近岸沙中，这体现了它们的营养类型。□生物膜收割机，寒武纪大爆发，小型动物猎人，奥陶纪辐射，化石痕迹。
{"title":"Biofilm harvesters in coastal settings of the early Palaeozoic","authors":"N. Noffke, M. Mángano, L. Buatois","doi":"10.1111/let.12453","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/let.12453","url":null,"abstract":"The ichnogenera Syringomorpha and Daedalus are here interpreted as products of infaunal biofilm harvesters. This study investigated: (1) Syringomorpha nilssoni and Syringomorpha isp. from the Cambrian Series 2‐Miaolingian Campanario Formation, northwest Argentina; and (2) Daedalus halli from the Floian Grès et Schistes de la Cluse de l’Orb Formation, Montagne Noire, France. Syringomorpha nilssoni occurs in sandy to mixed intertidal to lower shoreface deposits, whereas Syringomorpha isp. in the lower intertidal zone. Daedalus halli occurs in a lagoon and intertidal to lower shoreface sands of a barrier island. Syringomorpha and Daedalus comprise a vertical J‐shaped causative burrow and deep spreite. These ichnotaxa form monospecific assemblages (bioturbation index BI = 3–5) in quartzose medium‐ to fine‐grained sandstone, recording colonization in high‐energy tide‐and wave‐dominated settings. Lower abundances (BI = 1–2) are observed in silty sandstone. The abundance of both ichnogenera in mature sandstone is inconsistent with a classic deposit‐feeding strategy because ‘clean’ sediments are commonly impoverished of organic detritus, this being particularly true in Cambro‐ Ordovician littoral settings lacking terrestrial plant detritus. Based on morphology, host sediment properties and comparison with modern structures, such those produced on intertidal and shallow subtidal setting by Arenicola marina and Paraonis fulgens , it is suggested that the diet of Syringomorpha and Daedalus producers may have consisted of biofilms colonising sand grains, associated eukaryotic microbes, and possibly meio- fauna. Whereas Syringomorpha is a product of the Cambrian explosion, Daedalus is associated with the Ordovician Radiation. In contrast to most ichnotaxa, which dis- play long temporal ranges, these two ichnogenera are restricted to the Cambrian and Ordovician‐Silurian, respectively. The underlying reasons for the relatively restricted stratigraphic ranges of these ichnotaxa are unclear, but space competition, and increased predation pressure may have played a role. The feeding strategy of the Daedalus and Syringomorpha producers was less efficient than suspension feeding and passive predation, trophic types epitomized by the dominant macroinfauna that persisted in water‐agitated nearshore sands during the rest of the Phanerozoic. □ Biofilm harvesters, Cambrian explosion, meiofaunal hunters, Ordovician Radiation, trace fossils.","PeriodicalId":49912,"journal":{"name":"Lethaia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2021-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90968515","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
L. Clemmensen, S. Lindström, O. Mateus, M. Mau, J. Milán, D. Kent
has traditionally been regarded as a strictly continental unit with delta and perennial lake sediments. New finds of plesiosaur bone remain in a thin storm deposited sandstone bed in the middle part of the Rhætelv Formation of the Kap Stewart Group, however, indicates a likely period of marine influ-ence. At the study area at the eastern margin of the basin, the Rhætelv Formation is 300‐m thick and overlies unconformably the Norian Fleming Fjord Group. The bone‐ bearing sandstone occurs 190 m above the base of the group and is closely associated with black laminated mudstones; palynological investigation of three samples from these mudstones indicates that they are of a younger Hettangian age. The Hettangian was a relatively short stage (201.3–199.5 Ma) and elsewhere characterized by two episodes of sea‐level highstands. Assuming that the marine incursion in the Jameson land Basin evidenced by the plesiosaur fossil remains took place during the youngest of these sea‐level highstands, the bone‐bearing bed of the Rhætelv Formation can be dated to 200 Ma and thereby gives the first numerical age constraint of this hitherto poorly dated succession. □ Hettangian, Jameson Land Basin, Kap Stewart Group, marine incursion, plesiosaur.
{"title":"A new vertebrate fossil‐bearing layer in the Rhætelv Formation (Kap Stewart Group) of central East Greenland: evidence of a Hettangian marine incursion into the continental Jameson Land Basin","authors":"L. Clemmensen, S. Lindström, O. Mateus, M. Mau, J. Milán, D. Kent","doi":"10.1111/let.12449","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/let.12449","url":null,"abstract":"has traditionally been regarded as a strictly continental unit with delta and perennial lake sediments. New finds of plesiosaur bone remain in a thin storm deposited sandstone bed in the middle part of the Rhætelv Formation of the Kap Stewart Group, however, indicates a likely period of marine influ-ence. At the study area at the eastern margin of the basin, the Rhætelv Formation is 300‐m thick and overlies unconformably the Norian Fleming Fjord Group. The bone‐ bearing sandstone occurs 190 m above the base of the group and is closely associated with black laminated mudstones; palynological investigation of three samples from these mudstones indicates that they are of a younger Hettangian age. The Hettangian was a relatively short stage (201.3–199.5 Ma) and elsewhere characterized by two episodes of sea‐level highstands. Assuming that the marine incursion in the Jameson land Basin evidenced by the plesiosaur fossil remains took place during the youngest of these sea‐level highstands, the bone‐bearing bed of the Rhætelv Formation can be dated to 200 Ma and thereby gives the first numerical age constraint of this hitherto poorly dated succession. □ Hettangian, Jameson Land Basin, Kap Stewart Group, marine incursion, plesiosaur.","PeriodicalId":49912,"journal":{"name":"Lethaia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2021-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85900706","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A. Guido, Matteo Sposato, G. Palladino, A. Vescogni, D. Miriello
Biomineralization is a generic term used to indicate biological‐mediated mineral formation. In carbonate mineralization, nucleation of crystals can be: (1) controlled directly by the organisms, like in the skeletal formation of most metazoans; (2) induced by microbial communities, by indirect precipitation mediated by their metabolic activities; or (3) influenced by organic matter decay, with mineral precipitation on specific non‐living organic cell surfaces. Recognition of these products is a direct marker of biological activity in time and space and is a key element in the study of the biological evolution and of its interactions with the geological processes. In this paper, primary carbonate cements from the Anisian microbial build‐up of the ‘Monte Facito’ Formation (Basilicata region, Southern Italy) have been studied from a geobiological point of view. Optical microscopy, UV‐epifluorescence and micro‐Raman spectroscopy have been applied to investigate the organic mediation on their precipitation. The cements formed in microcavities or on grain substrates, and often show a microstromatolite‐like pattern of growth. They are composed of alternations of cloudy organic and whitish inorganic bands that point to a double phase of mineralization. In the first phase, a biologically induced/influenced biomineralization is confirmed by the presence of organic matter strictly connected with the cloudy bands. This phase is followed by a pure abiotic mineralization that leads to the formation of whitish bands. This process repeated cyclically, ending at the complete filling of the microcavities or because of changes in the chemical conditions of the microsystem, for example, due to burial processes. This model of mineralization is similar to that proposed for primary cements forming in recent beach rocks. The Monte Facito Formation cements could be considered as the product of unconventional biomineralization, and the understanding of their growth process could provide an innovative tool in the research of biological signatures in the fossil record. The term unconventional is here utilized to discriminate this type of biomineralizations from those related to well‐known biotic mineralization processes, like those involved in skeletons and microbialites growth, which can be considered as conventional biomineralizations. □ Anisian, biomineralization, fossil record, Monte Facito Formation, organic matter, primary cements.
{"title":"Biomineralization of primary carbonate cements: a new biosignature in the fossil record from the Anisian of Southern Italy","authors":"A. Guido, Matteo Sposato, G. Palladino, A. Vescogni, D. Miriello","doi":"10.1111/let.12450","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/let.12450","url":null,"abstract":"Biomineralization is a generic term used to indicate biological‐mediated mineral formation. In carbonate mineralization, nucleation of crystals can be: (1) controlled directly by the organisms, like in the skeletal formation of most metazoans; (2) induced by microbial communities, by indirect precipitation mediated by their metabolic activities; or (3) influenced by organic matter decay, with mineral precipitation on specific non‐living organic cell surfaces. Recognition of these products is a direct marker of biological activity in time and space and is a key element in the study of the biological evolution and of its interactions with the geological processes. In this paper, primary carbonate cements from the Anisian microbial build‐up of the ‘Monte Facito’ Formation (Basilicata region, Southern Italy) have been studied from a geobiological point of view. Optical microscopy, UV‐epifluorescence and micro‐Raman spectroscopy have been applied to investigate the organic mediation on their precipitation. The cements formed in microcavities or on grain substrates, and often show a microstromatolite‐like pattern of growth. They are composed of alternations of cloudy organic and whitish inorganic bands that point to a double phase of mineralization. In the first phase, a biologically induced/influenced biomineralization is confirmed by the presence of organic matter strictly connected with the cloudy bands. This phase is followed by a pure abiotic mineralization that leads to the formation of whitish bands. This process repeated cyclically, ending at the complete filling of the microcavities or because of changes in the chemical conditions of the microsystem, for example, due to burial processes. This model of mineralization is similar to that proposed for primary cements forming in recent beach rocks. The Monte Facito Formation cements could be considered as the product of unconventional biomineralization, and the understanding of their growth process could provide an innovative tool in the research of biological signatures in the fossil record. The term unconventional is here utilized to discriminate this type of biomineralizations from those related to well‐known biotic mineralization processes, like those involved in skeletons and microbialites growth, which can be considered as conventional biomineralizations. □ Anisian, biomineralization, fossil record, Monte Facito Formation, organic matter, primary cements.","PeriodicalId":49912,"journal":{"name":"Lethaia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2021-10-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90869076","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Discovery of plant cuticles in phyllite, late Pennsylvanian Southern Anthracite Field, eastern Pennsylvania, USA: a new research resource?","authors":"E. Zodrow, J. D'Angelo","doi":"10.1111/let.12448","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/let.12448","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":49912,"journal":{"name":"Lethaia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2021-10-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73874775","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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