[Rockhounds] Seemingly Ordinary Fossils May Be Hiding Some Major Clues to the Past

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

Paleontologists are lucky to find complete sets of fossilized bones.
Sometimes, they get even luckier, finding preserved impressions of delicate
features like feathers. Beyond those clues, though, most of the biology of
extinct species—their DNA, internal organs, and unique chemistry—has been
totally destroyed by the many millions of years that separate us. Except,
what if it hasn’t? Some scientists now claim they can tease much more
complex biological information out of apparently mundane fossils, including
things that most paleontologists don’t expect to survive over millions of
years, such as skin and eggshell.

Molecular paleobiologist Jasmina Wiemann <https://www.jasminawiemann.com/> has
been on the forefront of this exciting research since 2018, co-authoring
papers that reveal elements of fossils that cannot be immediately seen with
our eyes but can be detected through a series of complex chemical and
statistical analyses. Her recent paper
<https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/28/eaba6883>, published this
summer with Jason Crawford and Derek Briggs, builds upon other, similar
research from the past two years. She and her co-authors claim they can
determine the chemical signatures of skin, bone, teeth, and eggshell. Even
better, they can train anyone else in the field within approximately 20
minutes to find these ancient traces using their techniques. It’s an
opportunity they hope will be widely used within museum collections the
world over.

Consider that most museums only display a small percentage of the fossils
they have in their collection. Those fossils chosen for display are either
partially complete skeletons or fossils that are readily recognizable to
the general public. What remains in many collections’ storage rooms are
shelves upon shelves of the rest: the less-flashy fossils that nonetheless
offer insight into ancient life. What if they all could be tested for
hidden biomarkers?

https://gizmodo.com/seemingly-ordinary-fossils-may-be-hiding-some-major-clu-1845075323