MICROBIAL BIOMINERALIZATION CONTRIBUTES TO EXCEPTIONAL PRESERVATION OF VERTEBRATE FOSSILS

Fossils that exhibit exceptional preservation, i. e., the preservation of structures normally lost in the process of fossilization, contribute greatly to our understanding of extinct organisms. Preservation at this level implies virtually instantaneous mineralization, before degradation of soft tissues is complete. Microbes have been shown to initiate or facilitate mineral precipitation in many ways, including local chemical alterations of microenvironments.

Here we will present morphological, microscopic and immunochemical data to document exceptional preservation of a series of fossil specimens, and propose microbial mechanisms that may have contributed to the rapid mineralization of soft tissues and other aspects of organisms that are not normally preserved in the fossil record.