Journal article
Keratin Durability Has Implications for the Fossil Record: Results from a 10 Year Feather Degradation Experiment
PloS one, v 11(7), pp e0157699-e0157699
06 Jul 2016
PMID: 27384819
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Keratinous 'soft tissue' structures (i.e. epidermally derived and originally non-biomineralized), include feathers, skin, claws, beaks, and hair. Despite their relatively common occurrence in the fossil record (second only to bone and teeth), few studies have addressed natural degradation processes that must occur in all organic material, including those keratinous structures that are incorporated into the rock record as fossils. Because feathers have high preservation potential and strong phylogenetic signal, in the current study we examine feathers subjected to different burial environments for a duration of ~10 years, using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and in situ immunofluorescence (IF). We use morphology and persistence of specific immunoreactivity as indicators of preservation at the molecular and microstructural levels. We show that feather keratin is durable, demonstrates structural and microstructural integrity, and retains epitopes suitable for specific antibody recognition in even the harshest conditions. These data support the hypothesis that keratin antibody reactivity can be used to identify the nature and composition of epidermal structures in the rock record, and to address evolutionary questions by distinguishing between alpha- (widely distributed) and beta- (limited to sauropsids) keratin.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- Keratin Durability Has Implications for the Fossil Record: Results from a 10 Year Feather Degradation Experiment
- Creators
- Alison E Moyer - North Carolina State UniversityWenxia Zheng - North Carolina State UniversityMary H Schweitzer - North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
- Publication Details
- PloS one, v 11(7), pp e0157699-e0157699
- Publisher
- Public LIbrary of Science (PLOS)
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Biology
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000379809400021
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-84978036342
- Other Identifier
- 991021229995404721
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Web of Science research areas
- Evolutionary Biology