Anné Jennifer, Canoville Aurore, Edwards Nicholas P, Schweitzer Mary H, Zanno Lindsay E
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN 46208, USA.
Stiftung Schloss Friedenstein Gotha, 99867 Gotha, Germany.
Biology (Basel). 2023 Feb 7;12(2):264. doi: 10.3390/biology12020264.
Biomolecules preserved in deep time have potential to shed light on major evolutionary questions, driving the search for new and more rigorous methods to detect them. Despite the increasing body of evidence from a wide variety of new, high resolution/high sensitivity analytical techniques, this research is commonly met with skepticism, as the long standing dogma persists that such preservation in very deep time (>1 Ma) is unlikely. The Late Cretaceous dinosaur (MOR 1125) has been shown, through multiple biochemical studies, to preserve original bone chemistry. Here, we provide additional, independent support that deep time bimolecular preservation is possible. We use synchrotron X-ray fluorescence imaging (XRF) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) to investigate a section from the femur of this dinosaur, and demonstrate preservation of elements (S, Ca, and Zn) associated with bone remodeling and redeposition. We then compare these data to the bone of an extant dinosaur (bird), as well as a second non-avian dinosaur, (OMNH 34784) that did not preserve any sign of original biochemistry. Our data indicate that MOR 1125 bone cortices have similar bone elemental distributions to that of an extant bird, which supports preservation of original endogenous chemistry in this specimen.
保存在漫长地质时期的生物分子有潜力揭示重大进化问题，这推动了人们寻找新的、更严格的方法来检测它们。尽管来自各种新型高分辨率/高灵敏度分析技术的证据越来越多，但这项研究通常遭到怀疑，因为长期以来的教条认为，在非常漫长的时间（>100万年）里发生这样的保存是不太可能的。通过多项生物化学研究表明，晚白垩世恐龙（MOR 1125）保存了原始的骨骼化学成分。在此，我们提供了额外的独立证据，证明漫长地质时期的生物分子保存是可能的。我们使用同步加速器X射线荧光成像（XRF）和X射线吸收光谱（XAS）来研究这只恐龙股骨的一个切片，并证明了与骨骼重塑和再沉积相关的元素（硫、钙和锌）的保存情况。然后，我们将这些数据与现存恐龙（鸟类）的骨骼以及另一只未保存任何原始生物化学迹象的非鸟类恐龙（OMNH 34784）的骨骼进行比较。我们的数据表明，MOR 1125的骨皮质与现存鸟类的骨元素分布相似，这支持了该标本中原始内源化学物质的保存。
