Dark stain

Dark stain
Marrella splendens, with a small dark stain visible towards the posterior

A dark stain is often associated with fossils of the Burgess Shale, representing decay fluids that were squashed out of the organism during the taphonomic process.

Occurrence

It is most famously known in (and most commonly associated with) Marrella,[1] and is also known in other organisms: for example, Aysheaia, where it protrudes from the anterior (and in one case posterior) end of the animal;[2] Hallucigenia,[3] Naraoia,[4] and Alalcomeneaus.[5] It is also present in other Lagerstätten, for example in Carboniferous crustacea from Ireland.[6]

Formation

The formation of this stain is the subject of ongoing research. It was originally speculated that it represented body contents forced out by the pressure of overlying rocks,[2] although decay contents would form more quickly and thus be a more likely interpretation.[3] This is supported by their presence around organisms whose external wall apparently ruptured; dark stains are also found in Carboniferous fish, and oily liquids have been seen to ooze out of the mouth and anus of decaying seals.[3] A high abundance of elemental copper has been taken to suggest that it represents "blood" (i.e. the haemocoel of arthropods and molluscs).[7] Although copper was not analyzed in the canonical work on Elemental Mapping of Burgess Shale organisms, the dark stain was higher in Si and lower in Al and K than elsewhere.[8]

References

  1. ^ Whittington, H. B. (1971). "The Burgess Shale: history of research and preservation of fossils". North Am. Paleont. Convention, Chicago, 1969, Proc. I, Allen, Lawrence, Kansas: 1170–1201. 
  2. ^ a b Whittington, H. B. (1978). "The Lobopod Animal Aysheaia pedunculata Walcott, Middle Cambrian, Burgess Shale, British Columbia". Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 284 (1000): 165–197. Bibcode 1978RSPTB.284..165W. doi:10.1098/rstb.1978.0061.  edit
  3. ^ a b c Conway Morris, S. (1977). "A new metazoan from the Cambrian Burgess Shale, British Columbia.". Palaeontology 20: 623–640. http://palaeontology.palass-pubs.org/pdf/Vol%2020/Pages%20623-640.pdf. 
  4. ^ Whittington, H. B. (1977). "The Middle Cambrian Trilobite Naraoia, Burgess Shale, British Columbia". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 280: 409. Bibcode 1977RSPTB.280..409W. doi:10.1098/rstb.1977.0117.  edit
  5. ^ Briggs, D. E. G.; Collins, D. (1999). "The Arthropod Alalcomenaeus cambricus Simonetta, from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale of British Columbia". Palaeontology 42: 953. doi:10.1111/1475-4983.00104.  edit
  6. ^ Orr, P. J.; Briggs, D. E. G.; Kearns, S. L. (2008). "Taphonomy of Exceptionally Preserved Crustaceans from the Upper Carboniferous of Southeastern Ireland". PALAIOS 23: 298. doi:10.2110/palo.2007.p07-015r.  edit
  7. ^ PRATT, Brian R.; PUSHIE, M. Jake,; PICKERING, Ingird J.; GEORGE, Graham N.. "SYNCHROTRON IMAGING OF BURGESS SHALE FOSSILS: EVIDENCE FOR BIOCHEMICAL COPPER (HEMOCYANIN) IN THE MIDDLE CAMBRIAN ARTHROPOD MARRELLA SPLENDENS". http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2010RM/finalprogram/abstract_171740.htm. 
  8. ^ Orr, P. J.; Briggs, D. E.  G.; Kearns, S. L. (1998). "Cambrian Burgess Shale Animals Replicated in Clay Minerals". Science 281 (5380): 1173–1175. Bibcode 1998Sci...281.1173O. doi:10.1126/science.281.5380.1173. PMID 9712577.  edit

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • stain — {{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}} noun ADJECTIVE ▪ stubborn ▪ dark ▪ blood (usually bloodstain), coffee, grass, grease, ink …   Collocations dictionary

  • stain */ — I UK [steɪn] / US verb Word forms stain : present tense I/you/we/they stain he/she/it stains present participle staining past tense stained past participle stained 1) [intransitive/transitive] to leave a mark on something accidentally Sweat had… …   English dictionary

  • stain — stain1 [ steın ] noun * 1. ) count a mark left accidentally on clothes or surfaces: There was a dark stain on the carpet. coffee/blood/oil stains 2. ) count or uncount a liquid used for coloring wood 3. ) count or uncount SCIENCE a liquid used… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • stain — 1. To discolor. 2. To color; to dye. 3. A discoloration. 4. A dye used in histologic and bacteriologic technique. 5. A procedure in which a dye or combination of dyes and reagents is used to color the constituents of cells and tissues. For… …   Medical dictionary

  • stain — I n. discolored spot 1) to leave a stain 2) to remove a stain 3) a stubborn stain 4) (fig.) a stain on (a stain on one s reputation) II v. (N; used with an adjective) we stained the wood dark brown * * * [steɪn] go down the stain go up the stain… …   Combinatory dictionary

  • stain — stain1 [steın] v [Date: 1400 1500; Origin: Partly from Old French desteindre to discolor , from teindre to give something a different color , from Latin tingere ( TINGE2); partly from Old Norse steina to paint ] 1.) [I and T] to accidentally make …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • dark — {{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}} noun ADJECTIVE ▪ pitch ▪ I fumbled for the light switch in the pitch dark. ▪ gathering ▪ We could just make out some figures in the gathering dark. PREPOSITION …   Collocations dictionary

  • stain — 1. verb 1) her clothing was stained with blood Syn: discolor, blemish, soil, mark, muddy, spot, spatter, splatter, smear, splash, smudge, blotch, blacken; literary imbrue 2) the report stained his reputation …   Thesaurus of popular words

  • Masson's trichrome stain — of rat airway. Connective tissue is stained blue, nuclei are stained dark red/purple, and cytoplasm is stained red/pink. Masson s trichrome is a three colour staining protocol used in histology. The recipes evolved from Claude L. Pierre Masson s… …   Wikipedia

  • Blood Stain Child — Infobox musical artist Name = Blood Stain Child Img capt = Img size = Landscape = Background = group or band Alias = Origin = Osaka, Japan Genre = Melodic death metal Years active = 2000–present Label = M I Company (Japan) Dockyard 1 (Europe)… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”