ArticleScientific reports2017
Biochemistry and adaptive colouration of an exceptionally preserved juvenile fossil sea turtle.
Article in Scientific reports, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- Article
- From melanogenesis to melanin technologies.Communications chemistry · 2025Review
- Taphonomic variation in vascular remains from Mesozoic non-avian dinosaurs.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Fossilized anuran soft tissues reveal a new taphonomic model for the Eocene Geiseltal Konservat-Lagerstätte, Germany.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Natural external plastron mold of the Triassic turtle Proterochersis: An unusual mode of preservation.PloS one · 2024Article
- Taphonomic experiments reveal authentic molecular signals for fossil melanins and verify preservation of phaeomelanin in fossils.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Preservation of whole antibodies within ancient teeth.iScience · 2023Article
- Molecular Taphonomy of Heme: Chemical Degradation of Hemin under Presumed Fossilization Conditions.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Biomolecular histology as a novel proxy for ancient DNA and protein sequence preservation.Ecology and evolution · 2022Article
- Article
- Article
- Detection of porphyrins in vertebrate fossils from the Messel and implications for organic preservation in the fossil record.PloS one · 2022Article
- Article
- Chemistry of porphyrins in fossil plants and animals.RSC advances · 2021Review
- Article
- Chemical Evaluation of Eumelanin Maturation by ToF-SIMS and Alkaline Peroxide Oxidation HPLC Analysis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2020Article
- Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Decrease Aortic Valve Disease Through the Resolvin E1 and ChemR23 Axis.Circulation · 2020Article
- Evidence of proteins, chromosomes and chemical markers of DNA in exceptionally preserved dinosaur cartilage.National science review · 2020Article
- Taphonomic experiments resolve controls on the preservation of melanosomes and keratinous tissues in feathers.Palaeontology · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The holotype (MHM-K2) of the Eocene cheloniine Tasbacka danica is arguably one of the best preserved juvenile fossil sea turtles on record. Notwithstanding compactional flattening, the specimen is virtually intact, comprising a fully articulated skeleton exposed in dorsal view. MHM-K2 also preserves, with great fidelity, soft tissue traces visible as a sharply delineated carbon film around the bones and marginal scutes along the edge of the carapace. Here we show that the extraordinary preservation of the type of T. danica goes beyond gross morphology to include ultrastructural details and labile molecular components of the once-living animal. Haemoglobin-derived compounds, eumelanic pigments and proteinaceous materials retaining the immunological characteristics of sauropsid-specific β-keratin and tropomyosin were detected in tissues containing remnant melanosomes and decayed keratin plates. The preserved organics represent condensed remains of the cornified epidermis and, likely also, deeper anatomical features, and provide direct chemical evidence that adaptive melanism - a biological means used by extant sea turtle hatchlings to elevate metabolic and growth rates - had evolved 54 million years ago.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.