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

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 56 of the 59 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

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

Briggs, Derek E. G., Kear, Amanda J.·1993·Paleobiology
DOI 10.1017/s0094837300012343
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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.

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Research works printed but not linked: 22

  1. Roger, 1946, Les invertébrés des couches a Poissons du Crétacé supérieur du Liban, Mémoires Société Géologique France N.S., 51, 68
  2. Schram, 1979, Worms of the Mississippian Bear Gulch Limestone of central Montana, U.S.A., Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History, 19, 107
  3. Stürmer, 1980, Tafel I–XVI zu: Röntgenstrahlen erforschen die Urzeit, Kleine Senckenberg-Reihe, 11, 40
  4. Kozur, 1971, Die Eunicida und Phyllodocida des Mesozoikums, Freiberger forschungshefte, Paläontologie, C267, 73
  5. Kozur, 1970, Zur Klassifikation und phylogenetischen Entwicklung der fossilen Phyllodocida und Eunicida (Polychaeta), Freiberger forschungshefte, Paläontologie, C260, 35
  6. Kielan-Jaworowska, 1966, Polychaete jaw apparatuses from the Ordovician and Silurian of Poland and a comparison with modern forms, Palaeontologia Polonica, 16, 1
  7. Heyler, D. 1986. Table ronde internationale du C.N.R.S. sur le gisement Stéphanien de Montceau-les-Mines. Conclusions. Bulletin Trimestriel de la Société d'Histoire Naturelle et des Amis du Museum d'Autun 117:161–173.
  8. Ehlers, 1868, Über eine fossile Eunicee aus Solnhofen (Eunicites avitus) nebst Bermerkung über fossile Würmer überhaupt, Zeitschrifte Wissenschaftlichen Zoologie, 18, 421
  9. Dietl, 1972, Ökologie und biostratinomie von Ophiopinna elegans (Ophiuroidea) aus dem Unter-callovium von la Voulte (Südfrankreich), Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Monatshefte, 8, 449
  10. Briggs, 1991, Extraordinary fossils, American Scientist, 79, 130
  11. Ehlers, 1869, Über fossil Würmer aus dem litographischen Schiefer in Bayern, Palaeontographica, 17, 145
  12. Gall, 1967, Faune du Buntsandstein III, Quelques annelides du Grès à Voltzia des Vosges. Annales Paleontologie (Invert.), 53, 105
  13. Pacaud, 1981, Quelques invertébrés nouveaux du Stéphanien de Montceau-les-Mines, Bulletin Trimestriel de la Société d'Histoire Naturelle et des Amis due Muséum d'Autun, 97, 37
  14. Conway Morris, 1985, The origins and relationships of lower invertebrates. Systematics Association Special Volume 28, 343
  15. 10.1111/j.1502-3931.1987.tb00786.x · DOI
  16. Lyman, 1940, Composition of sea water, Journal of Marine Research, 3, 134
  17. Specht, 1988, The ultrastructure of Polychaeta, 45
  18. Jones, 1979, A guide to methods of estimating microbial numbers and biomass in fresh water
  19. Fischer, 1982, Les teuthoïdes (Cephalopoda, Dibranchiata) du Callovien inférieur de la Voulte-sur-Rhone (Ardèche, France), Annales de Paléontologie (Vert.-Invert.), 68, 295
  20. Thompson, 1979b, Errant polychaetes (Annelida) from the Pennsylvanian Essex fauna of northern Illinois, Palaeontographica, Abteilung A, 163, 169
  21. Parkes, 1986, Proceedings 4th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology, 617
  22. Purschke, 1988, The Ultrastructure of Polychaeta, 177

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Metadata

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

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