No more dry skin– a dead Geiseltal frog started to decay underwater. Credit: A. Pieri (University of Pisa)Paleontologists found that the extraordinary preservation of 45-million-year-old frog fossils can be attributed to the mineralization of their skin, using brand-new insights into their adaptation to land.A hundred-year-old secret of how some fossil frogs preserve their fleshy parts has actually been resolved by paleontologists at University College Cork (UCC), Ireland. They found that its all to their skin.Paleontologists Daniel Falk and Prof. Maria McNamara, together with scientists from Ireland, Germany, and the UK, studied 45-million-year-old fossil frogs from the Geiseltal website in central Germany. Remarkably, the fossils reveal complete body details of the soft tissues. The team discovered that the exceptional condition of the fossil frogs is due to preservation of ancient skin remnants.Advanced Analytical TechniquesThe group studied the fossils with high-precision methods consisting of scanning electron microscopy, synchrotron-X-ray analyses, and infrared spectroscopy. When the fossils were very first discovered in the early twentieth century, these techniques were not offered.”The quality of conservation of the fossil frog skin is incredible– even subcellular structures, such as collagen fibers, are protected.” said study lead, PhD researcher Daniel Falk. “The skin of the frogs is replicated in the mineral calcium phosphate, which assisted it make it through for millions of years.”The replication process of the frog skin at a glance. Credit: D. Falk, see Falk et al. 2024. Insights Into Fossil Frogs Habitat”The conservation of the skin is so great that we can even work out the environment of the fossil frogs,” stated Daniel. “The maintained skin reveals adaptations to prevent drying out, which suggests that these fossil frogs in fact spent many of their time on land.””Fossil soft tissues often expose hidden info about the biology of animals,” said senior author Prof. Maria McNamara. “We found that the fossil frog skin is preserved in the exact same method as fossil frogs from other sites in Europe.Daniel Falk takes a look at the fossil skin samples of a Geiseltal frog with an electron microscope. Credit: Daniel FalkReevaluating Historical Fossils”This discovery is very exciting because it overturns scientific viewpoint that has actually lasted for nearly one hundred years. Whats more, the repeated pattern of fossil conservation informs us that frogs evolved unique adjustments to life on dry land over 45 million years ago.”The research study highlights the usefulness of historic fossil collections and the need to re-evaluate historical specimens utilizing modern techniques.The study is published today in the journal Scientific Reports.Reference: “Fossilized anuran soft tissues reveal a new taphonomic model for the Eocene Geiseltal Konservat-Lagerstätte, Germany” 23 April 2024, Scientific Reports.DOI: 10.1038/ s41598-024-55822-yThe research study becomes part of a research cooperation in between UCC, the Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg (Germany), the Natural History Museum Bamberg (Germany), and the University of Oxford (UK) with financing from the Irish Research Council, the European Research Council, and the International Association of Sedimentologists.
Credit: A. Pieri (University of Pisa)Paleontologists discovered that the extraordinary preservation of 45-million-year-old frog fossils can be attributed to the mineralization of their skin, providing brand-new insights into their adaptation to land.A hundred-year-old secret of how some fossil frogs protect their fleshy parts has actually been resolved by paleontologists at University College Cork (UCC), Ireland. The group discovered that the outstanding condition of the fossil frogs is due to preservation of ancient skin remnants.Advanced Analytical TechniquesThe group studied the fossils with high-precision techniques consisting of scanning electron microscopy, synchrotron-X-ray analyses, and infrared spectroscopy. “We discovered that the fossil frog skin is protected in the exact same way as fossil frogs from other sites in Europe.Daniel Falk analyzes the fossil skin samples of a Geiseltal frog with an electron microscope.