FOR 2685:  The Limits of the Fossil Record: Analytical and Experimental Approaches to Fossilization

• Subject Area: Geosciences ; Biology ; Chemistry ; Materials Science and Engineering ; Medicine
• Term: since 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 348043586

The fossil record is the primary evidence for the history of life on Earth from its beginnings 3.8 billion years ago, but it is has become increasingly clear that our understanding of the material nature of fossils remains incomplete. Since the processes of fossilization shape the fossil record in a complex manner, we need to understand the limits imposed on the fossil record by fossilization processes if we are to understand the history of life. The last decade has opened up unprecedented opportunities for such research through the development of advanced analytical methods. However, such research needs to be conducted within an evolutionary framework in order to understand the evolutionary advantages and pathways that went into the selection of a particular biological trait in a fossil organism.Advanced imaging methods applicable to fossils include radiological methods (micro-CT, synchrotron radiation CT) as well as 3D surface capture and imaging (e.g., photogrammetry, digital microscopy). New micro-analytical methods are equally promising in their application to fossils such as micro-Raman and IR spectroscopy, X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atom-probe tomography (APT), secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), ion microprobe, laser ablation inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS), nano-sized secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS), as well as time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF-MS). The research unit proposed here will focus on applying the latest imaging and analytical technologies to the fossil record of plants, soft-bodied arthropods, and vertebrates with the objective of elucidating the material nature of fossils and the processes of fossilization. These include the process of bone fossilization, the silicification of plants and arthropods, the preservation of organic remains in bone, as well as the detection of organic remains in plants, arthropods, and vertebrate remains. In order to reach these aims, the results of carefully designed and reproducible fossilization experiments involving microbiological expertise will be linked to detailed investigations on naturally fossilized material. Based on this, we aim to establish proper research protocols across the disciplines and groups of organisms and ultimately to develop an integrative view of fossilization which will benefit evolutionary research as well as the geosciences.The research unit will center around PIs at the Steinmann Institute of Geology, Mineralogy and Paleontology, the Pharmaceutical Institute, the Kekulé Institute of Organic Chemistry, and the Institute of Medical Microbiology at the University of Bonn to form a nationally unique cluster of expertise, but researchers from the University of Mainz will also participate. The individual projects are linked by analytical expertise and the development of new analytical techniques that are shared among different projects.

• DFG Programme: Research Units

Projects

• Chemical and mineralogical changes of calcareous shell material during fossilisation processes – an experimental approach (Applicants Schöne, Bernd R. ;  Tütken, Thomas )
• Coordination Funds (Applicant Gee, Carole T. )
• Destruction, decay, and preservation: Early fossilization of leaf compressions (Applicants Bierbaum, Gabriele ;  Gee, Carole T. )
• Experimental studies on the genesis of apatized fish fossils in calcareous concretions (Applicant Geisler-Wierwille, Thorsten )
• Fossilization of bone studied in-operando by fluid-cell Raman spectroscopy (Applicant Geisler-Wierwille, Thorsten )
• From cell to cell, tissue to tissue: Pathways in low-temperature wood silicification (Applicant Gee, Carole T. )
• MALDI imaging and analysis of fossils (Applicant Engeser, Marianne )
• Organic phase (extracellular matrix, osteocyte, blood vessel) preservation in dinosaur bone: Chemical composition and hypotheses of preservation (Applicants Müller, Christa E. ;  Tütken, Thomas )
• Physico-chemical and microbial processes governing the decay of organic substance in sediment under anoxic conditions (Applicant Ballhaus, Christian Gerhard )
• Searching for biological pigments and structural color in fossil plants (Applicants Gee, Carole T. ;  Müller, Christa E. )
• Soft tissue preservation in amber II – a multi-methodical approach towards the understanding of amber taphonomy (Applicant Rust, Jes )
• The detection of antiherbivore secondary compounds in the fossil record and their potential role in defense against insects (Applicant Rust, Jes )
• The impact of bacterial activity on decay and fossilization of arthropods: An experimental approach (Applicants Bierbaum, Gabriele ;  Rust, Jes )
• The organic phase in dinosaur eggshell: analysis, models of preservation, and implications for the evolution of bird reproduction (Applicants Engeser, Marianne ;  Sander, Martin )
• The role of microbes and biofilms in leaf fossilization (Applicants Bierbaum, Gabriele ;  Gee, Carole T. )
• U-Pb systematics of fossilized biogenic tissues as a tracer of long-term diagenetic processes (Applicant Geisler-Wierwille, Thorsten )

• Spokesperson: Privatdozentin Dr. Carole T. Gee, since 4/2023