Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 116, Issue 36, Pages 17880-17889Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1820285116
Keywords
fossil melanin; synchrotron X-ray fluorescence; soft tissue; taphonomy; metallome
Categories
Funding
- European Research Council [ERC-2014-StG-637691-ANICOLEVO]
- US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences [DE-AC02-76SF00515]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Recent discoveries of nonintegumentary melanosomes in extant and fossil amphibians offer potential insights into the physiological functions of melanin not directly related to color production, but the phylogenetic distribution and evolutionary history of these internal melanosomes has not been characterized systematically. Here, we present a holistic method to discriminate among melanized tissues by analyzing the anatomical distribution, morphology, and chemistry of melanosomes in various tissues in a phylogenetically broad sample of extant and fossil vertebrates. Our results show that internal melanosomes in all extant vertebrates analyzed have tissue-specific geometries and elemental signatures. Similar distinct populations of preserved melanosomes in phylogenetically diverse vertebrate fossils often map onto specific anatomical features. This approach also reveals the presence of various melanosome-rich internal tissues in fossils, providing a mechanism for the interpretation of the internal anatomy of ancient vertebrates. Collectively, these data indicate that vertebrate melanins share fundamental physiological roles in homeostasis via the scavenging and sequestering of metals and suggest that intimate links between melanin and metal metabolism in vertebrates have deep evolutionary origins.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available