Transformation of Arthropod Biopolymers in High P-T Conditions - Biopolymers: A Molecular Paleontology Approach - page 142

aliphatic component generated from constituents within the cuticle itself. Lipids
from the internal tissue of the organism could also contribute to the aliphatic com-
ponent (this occurs in plants: Gupta et al. 2005 , 2007b ). This demonstrates that the
aliphatic component encountered in fossil insect tissues is not necessarily the result
of migration from an external source (Baas et al. 1995 ) but rather a product of incor-
poration of lipids present in the organism itself. The major proportion of the fossil
record of terrestrial arthropods, and of marine arthropods without a biomineralized
exoskeleton, may be the result of this process of in situ polymerization.
This project was funded in part through a research grant awarded to RDP, DEGB
and RM by the Petroleum Research Fund, American Chemical Society. I. Bull and
R. Berstan are thanked for analytical support. The mass spectrometry facilities
used in this study at the Bristol Biogeochemistry Research Centre were supported
in part by a grant from the UK Joint Higher Education Research Investment Fund,
and the University of Bristol. We are grateful to M. E. Collinson for advice and
discussion.
References
Baas M, Briggs DEG, van Heemst JDH, Kear AJ, de Leeuw JW (1995) Selective preservation of
chitin during the decay of shrimp. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 59:945-951
Briggs DEG (1999) Molecular taphonomy of animal and plant cuticles: selective preservation and
diagenesis. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B354:7-16
Briggs DEG, Kear AJ (1993) Fossilization of soft-tissue in the laboratory. Science
259:1439-1442
Briggs DEG, Kear AJ (1994) Decay and mineralization of shrimps. Palaios 9:431-456
Briggs DEG, Stankiewicz BA, Evershed RP (1998) The molecular preservation of fossil arthropod
cuticles. Anc Biomol 2:135-146
Briggs DEG, Evershed RP, Lockheart MJ (2000) The biomolecular paleontology of continental
fossils. Paleobiology 26(Suppl to no. 4):169-193
Duncan IJ, Titchener F, Briggs DEG (2003) Decay and disarticulation of the cockroach: implica-
tions for the preservation of the blattoids of Writhlington (Upper Carboniferous), UK. Palaios
18:256-265
Gupta NS, Pancost RD (2004) Biomolecular and physical taphonomy of angiosperm leaf during
early decay: implications for fossilisation. Palaios 19:428-440
Gupta NS, Michels R, Briggs DEG, Collinson ME, Evershed RP, Pancost RD (2005) Experimental
simulation of organic fossilisation. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 69:A343
Gupta NS, Briggs DEG, Collinson ME, Evershed RP, Michels R, Pancost RD (2007a) Insoluble
aliphatics do not migrate from matrix to fossils: evidence from molecular preservation of
leaves and insects in the Oligocene of Enspel, Germany. Org Geochem
Gupta NS, Michels R, Briggs DEG, Collinson ME, Evershed RP, Pancost RD (2007b) Experimental
evidence for the formation of geomacromolecules from plant leaf lipids. Org Geochem
38(1):28-36
Hartgers WA, SinningheDamsté JSS, de Leeuw JW (1995) Curie-point pyrolysis of sodium salts
of functionalized fatty acids. J Anal Appl Pyroylsis 34:191-217
Hof CHJ, Briggs DEG (1997) Decay and mineralization of mantis shrimps (Stomatopoda:
Crustacea)—a key to their fossil record. Palaios 12:420-438
Howard RW, Blomquist GJ (2005) Ecological, behavioral and biochemical aspects of insect
hydrocarbons. Annu Rev Entomol 50:371-393