HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by MCNAMARA, M. E. Articles by PEÑALVER MOLLÁ, E. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation

SOFT-TISSUE PRESERVATION IN MIOCENE FROGS FROM LIBROS, SPAIN: INSIGHTS INTO THE GENESIS OF DECAY MICROENVIRONMENTS

¹ UCD School of Geological Sciences, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
² Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queen's Road, Bristol, BS8 1RJ, U.K.
³ Fundación Conjunto Paleontológico de Teruel-Dinópolis, Avda. Sagunto s/n, E-44002 Teruel, Aragón, Spain
⁴ Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Institut de Ciències de la Terra "Jaume Almera," Lluís Solé i Sabarís s/n E-08028, Barcelona, Spain
⁵ Museo Geominero, Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, C/ Ríos Rosas, 23, E-28003, Madrid, Spain maria.mcnamara1{at}ucd.ie

The Late Miocene Libros biota is a lacustrine-hosted, Konservat-Lagerstätte from Libros, near Teruel in northeast Spain. Adult frogs are characterized by the preservation of their soft tissues, some in histological detail. The soft tissues of the body outline are preserved as a layered structure, which comprises a central carbonaceous bacterial biofilm enveloped by the phosphatized remains of the mid-dermal Eberth-Katschenko layer, external to which is a second, thinner, carbonaceous bacterial biofilm. Bacterial autolithification is restricted to limited phosphatization of the cell margins of bacteria adjacent to phosphatized dermis. Phosphatization occurred during the late stages of decay; phosphate was sourced primarily from the dermis itself. Other tissues and organs are also defined in authigenic minerals: nervous tissue (aragonite), the stomach (calcium phosphate), and collagen fibers of the dermal stratum compactum (calcium sulphate); bone marrow is organically preserved. The disparate modes of soft-tissue preservation within individual specimens reflects development of several highly localized, chemically distinct microenvironments within the frog carcasses during decay. These microenvironments correspond to individual organs and tissues, were established at different times during decay, and varied in their duration. The preservation of soft tissues via multiple taphonomic pathways was controlled ultimately by anatomical and physiological factors.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. SKAWINA EXPERIMENTAL DECAY OF GILLS IN FRESHWATER BIVALVES AS A KEY TO UNDERSTANDING THEIR PRESERVATION IN UPPER TRIASSIC LACUSTRINE DEPOSITS Palaios, March 1, 2010; 25(3): 215 - 220. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F. D. JACKSON, X. JIN, and J. G. SCHMITT FUNGI IN A LOWER CRETACEOUS TURTLE EGG FROM CHINA: EVIDENCE OF ECOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS Palaios, December 1, 2009; 24(12): 840 - 845. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]