CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 186Forensic Entomology and Diptera StudiesMarine Biology and Ecology ResearchPaleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils

Decay and preservation of polychaetes: taphonomic thresholds in soft-bodied organisms

Briggs, Derek E. G., Kear, Amanda J.·1993·Paleobiology
DOI 10.1017/s0094837300012343
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

A series of experiments was carried out to investigate the nature and controls (oxygen, microbial populations, agitation) on the degradation of soft tissues. Decay was monitored in terms of morphological change, weight loss, and change in chemical composition in the polychaete Nereis virens . Polychaetes include a range of tissue types of differing chemical composition and preservation potential: muscle, cuticle, setae, and jaws. Regardless of conditions, all the muscle had broken down and fluid loss through the ruptured cuticle had reduced the carcass to two dimensions within 8 days at 20°C. In most cases some cuticle, in addition to the jaws and setae, remained after 30 days. Where oxygen was completely eliminated, the rate of decay of the more volatile issues was significantly reduced. The degree of both osmotic uptake of water by the carcass and changes in water pH differed depending on whether the system was open or closed to oxygen diffusion. Autolytic and chemical processes are not sufficient to fully degrade the carcass in the absence of bacteria. Where internal bacteria are present, the presence or absence of water column bacteria made little difference to decay rate. Initial degradation (in the first 3 days) affects mainly the lipid fraction and the collagen of the cuticle. Later decay reduces the nonsoluble protein and increases the relative proportion of refractory structural components (tanned chitin and collagen) to more than 95% by day 30. Thus, only the sclerotized tissues are likely to survive beyond 30 days in the absence of early diagenetic mineralization. The sequence of degradation predicted from the relative decay resistance of macromolecules in the sedimentary record (protein → carbohydrate → lipid) is not, therefore, a consistent indicator of the preservation potential of structural tissues which incorporate them. The experiments reveal five stages in the decay of polychaete carcasses; whole/shriveled, flaccid, unsupported gut, cuticle sac, jaws and setae. All are represented in the fossil record. This allows an estimation of how far decay proceeded before it was halted by the fossilization process. The most complete preservations occur in the Cambrian where the Burgess Shale preserves evidence of muscle tissues. Traces of the gut and cuticle are more widely preserved, as at Mazon Creek, Grès à Voltzia, Solnhofen, and Hakel. Preservation varies within Konservat-Lagerstätten. The most common whole body preservation includes only the more recalcitrant tissues, jaws (where present) and setae, with an impression of the body outline. The stage of decay can be used as a taphonomic threshold, to provide an indication of how significantly the diversity of an exceptionally preserved biota is likely to have been reduced by taphonomic loss.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1017/s0094837300012343

Cites

56 of 56 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Under most circumstances, even unsclerotized soft cuticle is more decay resistant than cellular tissue, because cuticular structures are not subject to autolysis, and the composition of complex polymerized polysaccharides means cuticle is more difficult to break down than cellular tissues.

    “Under most circumstances, even unsclerotized soft cuticle is more decay resistant than cellular tissue, because cuticular structures are not subject to autolysis, and the composition of complex polymerized polysaccharides means cuticle is more difficult to break down than cellular tissues (Briggs and Kear, 1993).”

    From Taphonomic bias in exceptionally preserved biotas (2020) · cites this paper as Briggs and Kear, 1993

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

3 of the 59 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Briggs, D. E. G., & Kear, A. J.
Affiliations
University of Bristol (GB)
Venue
Paleobiology
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
1993
Volume
19
Issue
1
Pages
107-135
ISSN
  • 0094-8373 (ISSN-L)
  • 1938-5331
DOI
10.1017/s0094837300012343
OpenAlex
W1959245684
Semantic Scholar
8de42432f90af2b8735418e1c3b1cced8ce30dd0
Cited by
186
References
59
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 3
FWCI
7.60
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified, 8438 d)
Locations
  • Paleobiology (publishedVersion)
  • Bristol Research (University of Bristol) (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Insect Science › Forensic Entomology and Diptera Studies
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Oceanography › Marine Biology and Ecology Research
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
Keywords
Nereis virens, taphonomy, cuticle, muscle tissue, oxygen limitation, microbial degradation, chitin, collagen, diagenesis, Konservat-Lagerstätte, Burgess Shale, Mazon Creek, Solnhofen

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review