Re: New paper on sauropod eggshells

[Jeff Hecht <jeff@jeffhecht.com>]

I think that was posted on-line two months ago. -- Jeff Hecht

At 9:17 AM +1200 5/13/05, Christopher Taylor wrote:
>Out today:
>
>M.H. Schweitzer, L. Chiappe, A.C. Garrido, J.M. Lowenstein & S.H. Pincus.
>2005. Molecular preservation in Late Cretaceous sauropod dinosaur eggshells.
>Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B Biological Sciences 272
>(1565): 775-784.
>
>"Exceptionally preserved sauropod eggshells discovered in Upper Cretaceous
>(Campanian) deposits in Patagonia, Argentina, contain skeletal remains and
>soft tissues of embryonic Titanosaurid dinosaurs. To preserve these labile
>embryonic remains, the rate of mineral precipitation must have superseded
>post-mortem degradative processes, resulting in virtually instantaneous
>mineralization of soft tissues. If so, mineralization may also have been
>rapid enough to retain fragments of original biomolecules in these
>specimens. To investigate preservation of biomolecular compounds in these
>well-preserved sauropod dinosaur eggshells, we applied multiple analytical
>techniques. Results demonstrate organic compounds and antigenic structures
>similar to those found in extant eggshells."
>
>    Cheers,
>
>        Christopher Taylor