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Discovery of proteinaceous moieties in Late Cretaceous dinosaur eggshell
Author(s) -
Dhiman Harsha,
Dutta Suryendu,
Kumar Sumit,
Verma Vishal,
Prasad Guntupalli V. R.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
palaeontology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.69
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1475-4983
pISSN - 0031-0239
DOI - 10.1111/pala.12565
Subject(s) - diagenesis , subaerial , sedimentary depositional environment , cretaceous , paleontology , fossilization , geology , taphonomy , eggshell , philosophy , linguistics , structural basin
The documentation of proteinaceous soft tissues in fossils from deep time remains controversial. Often this has been attributed to the laboratory or other modes of modern contamination. Here we provide incontrovertible evidence for the preservation of proteinaceous moieties in Maastrichtian dinosaur eggshell using pyrolysis‐GC×GC‐TOFMS. The presence of nitrogen‐bearing organic molecules along with diketodipyrrole suggests that the proteinaceous moieties can survive diagenesis. The preservation of these proteinaceous moieties has been attributed to deposition in a palustrine flat environment under subaerial conditions and entrapment of organic material by the eggshell calcitic units. The present study demonstrates that the preservation of nitrogen‐bearing macromolecules in Mesozoic fossil remains is not impossible provided that the depositional environments and diagenetic processes are propitious. The survival of nitrogen‐bearing macromolecules in deep time under subaerial depositional settings will open a new avenue of research on soft tissue preservation.