BA Stankiewicz

TL;DR: In this paper, the results of electron microscopy and spectroscopic methods to modern, thermally matured, and fossil arthropod cuticles indicate that in situ polymerization of free and ester-bound cuticular lipids can lead to sedimentary organic matter.

TL;DR: This study constitutes the first comprehensive chemical characterization of the pyrolysis products of invertebrate cuticles and provides the basis for future investigations requiring qualitative screening for cross-linked chitin and proteins in modern and fossil cuticle and in materials, e.g. geopolymers, that may be derived from them.

TL;DR: The presence of aliphatic polymer and sulphur–containing moieties in these tissues indicates that they have undergone diagenetic alteration; in view of this, the preservation in Dominican amber of a macromolecule as labile as DNA would be extraordinary.

TL;DR: The presence of 4-isopropenylphenol in the pyrolysates of the bog-body tissues provides evidence that their preservation involves reactions of amino acids with sphagnum acid, and possibly other agents derived from the peat.

TL;DR: The cuticles of 15 fossil invertebrates ranging in age from Silurian to Cretaceous, and including both marine and terrestrial organisms, have been analyzed using pyrolysis−gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (py−GC/MS) as discussed by the authors.