Organic Preservation of Biopolymers in Fossil Leaves - Biopolymers: A Molecular Paleontology Approach - page 52

Fig. 3.5 SEM image of surface ( a ) and detail of portion of TEM section ( b ) including one surface
(at right ) of fossil Quercushispanica specimen 1. Cuticle is not recognisable in surface or section
views in spite of the preservation of recognisable cellular structure in section
multiple, sometimes anastomosing and they occur in various places in the organic
matter including some distance away from the surface. These features are particularly
obvious in Fig. 3.3c, e and g and upper surface of Fig. 3.3d .
The surfaces of the fossil leaves in SEM (Fig. 3.5a ) show none of the features
expected in a leaf cuticle. The TEM sections (Fig. 3.3b-g ), even in detail on the
fossil with the most leaf-like internal organisation (Fig. 3.5b ), show no continuous,
discrete or distinctive outer layer. These microscopical observations therefore show
that the cuticles are not recognisable on any of the fossil leaves.