Fungal Ferromanganese Mineralisation in Cretaceous Dinosaur Bones from the Gobi Desert, Mongolia
Autor: | Józef Kaźmierczak, Barbara Kremer, Krzysztof Owocki, Beata Wrzosek, Agata Królikowska |
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Jazyk: | angličtina |
Rok vydání: | 2016 |
Předmět: |
010506 paleontology
Iron Geochemistry Hyphae lcsh:Medicine Mineralogy Electron microprobe 010502 geochemistry & geophysics Bone tissue Spectrum Analysis Raman 01 natural sciences Ferromanganese Bone and Bones Dinosaurs chemistry.chemical_compound medicine Animals lcsh:Science 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Calcite Manganese Multidisciplinary Mineral Microscopy Confocal Mycelium Desert climate Fossils lcsh:R fungi Fungi Biota Mongolia Hydrogen-Ion Concentration Cretaceous medicine.anatomical_structure chemistry Biofilms Microscopy Electron Scanning lcsh:Q Desert Climate Crystallization Research Article |
Zdroj: | PLoS ONE PLoS ONE, Vol 11, Iss 2, p e0146293 (2016) |
ISSN: | 1932-6203 |
Popis: | Well-preserved mycelia of fungal- or saprolegnia-like biota mineralised by ferromanganese oxides were found for the first time in long bones of Late Cretaceous dinosaurs from the Gobi Desert (Nemegt Valley, Mongolia). The mycelia formed a biofilm on the wall of the bone marrow cavity and penetrated the osteon channels of the nearby bone tissue. Optical microscopy, Raman, SEM/EDS, SEM/BSE, electron microprobe and cathodoluminescence analyses revealed that the mineralisation of the mycelia proceeded in two stages. The first stage was early post-mortem mineralisation of the hyphae by Fe/Mn-oxide coatings and microconcretions. Probably this proceeded in a mildly acidic to circumneutral environment, predominantly due to heterotrophic bacteria degrading the mycelial necromass and liberating Fe and Mn sorbed by the mycelia during its lifetime. The second stage of mineralisation, which proceeded much later following the final burial of the bones in an alkaline environment, resulted from the massive precipitation of calcite and occasionally barite on the iron/manganese-oxide-coated mycelia. The mineral phases produced by fungal biofilms colonising the interiors of decaying dinosaur bones not only enhance the preservation (fossilisation) of fungal remains but can also be used as indicators of the geochemistry of the dinosaur burial sites. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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