Organic Preservation of Biopolymers in Fossil Leaves - Biopolymers: A Molecular Paleontology Approach - page 70

Mösle et al. 1997 , 1998 ). Importantly, aliphatic components are also characteristic
of the pyrolysates of most arthropod fossils (Stankiewicz et al. 1997a , b , 1998a , b , 2000 ;
Briggs et al. 1998 ; Briggs 1999 ) none of which has a recalcitrant aliphatic precursor.
Given the ubiquity of labile aliphatic compounds in organisms, the aliphatic character
of sedimentary organic matter, including kerogen, could be attributed to processes
similar to those inferred here in fossils. The process of in-situ polymerisation could be
of widespread importance in addition to selective preservation.
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