ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2006
Experimental taphonomy shows the feasibility of fossil embryos.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
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21 citing papers in PubMed, 121 citations in OpenAlex.
- Microbial dynamics and metabolic activity during fish decay under aerobic and anaerobic conditions: insights into microbial fossilization.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Experimental taphonomy of marine algae and cyanobacteria reveals the decoupling of morphological and chemical decay patterns.iScience · 2025Article
- The early CambrianProceedings. Biological sciences · 2024Article
- Developmental biology ofProceedings. Biological sciences · 2024Article
- Time-dependent microbial shifts during crayfish decomposition in freshwater and sediment under different environmental conditions.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Diverse and complex developmental mechanisms of early Ediacaran embryo-like fossils from the Weng'an Biota, southwest China.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2022Article
- Exceptionally preserved early Cambrian bilaterian developmental stages from Mongolia.Nature communications · 2021Article
- Experimental taphonomy of organelles and the fossil record of early eukaryote evolution.Science advances · 2021Article
- Nucleus preservation in early Ediacaran Weng'an embryo-like fossils, experimental taphonomy of nuclei and implications for reading the eukaryote fossil record.Interface focus · 2020Article
- Developmental biology ofScience advances · 2020Article
- Sea urchin reproductive performance in a changing ocean: poor males improve while good males worsen in response to ocean acidification.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2019Article
- The Effect Of microbial Mats In The Decay Of Anurans With Implications For Understanding Taphonomic Processes In The Fossil Record.Scientific reports · 2017Article
- Preservation and phylogeny of Cambrian ecdysozoans tested by experimental decay of Priapulus.Scientific reports · 2016Article
- Experimental taphonomy of Artemia reveals the role of endogenous microbes in mediating decay and fossilization.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2015Article
- Article
- Distinguishing geology from biology in the Ediacaran Doushantuo biota relaxes constraints on the timing of the origin of bilaterians.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2012Article
- Experimental taphonomy of giant sulphur bacteria: implications for the interpretation of the embryo-like Ediacaran Doushantuo fossils.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2012Article
- Tiny sea anemone from the Lower Cambrian of China.PloS one · 2010Article
- Developmental palaeontology in synapsids: the fossil record of ontogeny in mammals and their closest relatives.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2010Review
- Embryo fossilization is a biological process mediated by microbial biofilms.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2008Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The recent discovery of apparent fossils of embryos contemporaneous with the earliest animal remains may provide vital insights into the metazoan radiation. However, although the putative fossil remains are similar to modern marine animal embryos or larvae, their simple geometric forms also resemble other organic and inorganic structures. The potential for fossilization of animals at such developmental stages and the taphonomic processes that might affect preservation before mineralization have not been examined. Here, we report experimental taphonomy of marine embryos and larvae similar in size and inferred cleavage mode to presumptive fossil embryos. Under conditions that prevent autolysis, embryos within the fertilization envelope can be preserved with good morphology for sufficiently long periods for mineralization to occur. The reported fossil record exhibits size bias, but we show that embryo size is unlikely to be a major factor in preservation. Under some conditions of death, fossilized remains will not accurately reflect the cell structure of the living organism. Although embryos within the fertilization envelope have high preservation potential, primary larvae have negligible preservation potential. Thus the paleo-embryological record may have strong biases on developmental stages preserved. Our data provide a predictive basis for interpreting the fossil record to unravel the evolution of ontogeny in the origin of metazoans.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.