ArticleNature communications2018
Non-integumentary melanosomes can bias reconstructions of the colours of fossil vertebrates.
Article in Nature communications, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 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
13 citing papers in PubMed, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- From melanogenesis to melanin technologies.Communications chemistry · 2025Review
- Evolutionary adaptations of TRPA1 thermosensitivity and skin thermoregulation in vertebrates.iScience · 2025Article
- Fossilized anuran soft tissues reveal a new taphonomic model for the Eocene Geiseltal Konservat-Lagerstätte, Germany.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Taphonomic experiments reveal authentic molecular signals for fossil melanins and verify preservation of phaeomelanin in fossils.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Recent Advances in Characterization of Melanin Pigments in Biological Samples.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Hierarchical biota-level and taxonomic controls on the chemistry of fossil melanosomes revealed using synchrotron X-ray fluorescence.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Recent advances in amniote palaeocolour reconstruction and a framework for future research.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2020Article
- Article
- Taphonomic experiments resolve controls on the preservation of melanosomes and keratinous tissues in feathers.Palaeontology · 2020Article
- Chemical characterization of pterosaur melanin challenges color inferences in extinct animals.Scientific reports · 2019Article
- Tissue-specific geometry and chemistry of modern and fossilized melanosomes reveal internal anatomy of extinct vertebrates.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2019Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The soft tissues of many fossil vertebrates preserve evidence of melanosomes-micron-scale organelles that inform on integumentary coloration and communication strategies. In extant vertebrates, however, melanosomes also occur in internal tissues. Hence, fossil melanosomes may not derive solely from the integument and its appendages. Here, by analyzing extant and fossil frogs, we show that non-integumentary melanosomes have high fossilization potential, vastly outnumber those from the skin, and potentially dominate the melanosome films preserved in some fossil vertebrates. Our decay experiments show that non-integumentary melanosomes usually remain in situ provided that carcasses are undisturbed. Micron-scale study of fossils, however, demonstrates that non-integumentary melanosomes can redistribute through parts of the body if carcasses are disturbed by currents. Collectively, these data indicate that fossil melanosomes do not always relate to integumentary coloration. Integumentary and non-integumentary melanosomes can be discriminated using melanosome geometry and distribution. This is essential to accurate reconstructions of the integumentary colours of fossil vertebrates.
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.