Preservation of Living Organic Structures in Unicellular and Multicellular Organisms in the Fossil State

It is known that early postmortem mineralization is a phenomenon underlying the preservation of organic structures such as bacterial cells, biofilms, soft bodies, cells, vessels, and slightly mineralized integuments of multicellular animals in the fossil state. Bacteria, the activity of which creates conditions for mineralization of organic matter, are a driving force behind this process. The most widely known types of postmortem mineralization that are mediated by bacteria are phosphatization, silicification, pyritization, carbonatization, iron-manganese mineralization, and the formation of clay minerals, which either replace organic structures or cover them with thin films.