Soft Tissue Fossils Preserved by Toasting? | The Institute for Creation Research

Soft Tissue Fossils Preserved by Toasting?

A research team described a form of fossilization that it thinks can explain how original proteins have lasted for millions of years in Earth’s crust. It does match certain fossil features, but leaves two key questions unanswered. And that leaves soft tissue fossils still looking quite young.
 
Publishing in Nature Communications, Yale University scientist Jasmina Wiemann and colleagues drew two parallels between the soft tissues they found in fossils and tissues they toasted on a hot plate in the lab.1 First, both had darker coloration. This happens often, for example when apple slices darken when left out on the counter. Second, both real and artificial fossils showed similar infrared spectra. These spectra indicate the chemistry of a given sample. In this case, the spectra showed that proteins had crosslinked to form polymers.
 
Despite the fact these dark polymers are no longer proteins, they keep the shape of the original tissue. The research results agreed with this, but then the study authors slid into storytelling. According to their toast model of soft tissue fossil preservation, these polymers shield nearby proteins from microbes and even chemical interactions.

How did the team reach the conclusion that this shield somehow stays in place for over 150 million years? First, they did it by assuming that the fossils’ proteins and polymers had been lying in the ground with almost no decay for millions of years. This begs the question of how long the fossils have been there. A longevity experiment would have been the proper way to show how long these organic molecules could last, but the study presented no such experiment.
 
A second unanswered question comes from entirely soft tissues, with no crusty coating, found in certain fossils. For example, University of North Carolina paleontologist Mary Schweitzer recorded video of T. rex connective tissue being pulled, stretched, and flexing back into shape.2 Armitage and Anderson later published their description of a pliable sheet of soft tissue extracted from a Triceratops horn core excavated from near the surface of the ground.3

The idea that fossil material could have remained entirely flexible and original for 551 million years is laughable. Tweet: The idea that fossil material could have remained entirely flexible and original for 551 million years is laughable.

Soft Tissue Fossils Preserved by Toasting? https://www.icr.org/article/soft-tissue-fossils-preserved-by-toasting/

@ICRscience @icrbthomas

#Science #Research

But a Precambrian sea floor worm sheath takes the longevity prize. The idea that fossil material could have remained entirely flexible and original for 551 million years is laughable. Publishing in the Journal of Paleontology, the study authors wrote, “Minerals have not replicated any part of the soft tissue and the carbonaceous material of the wall is primary [not replaced], preserving the original layering of the wall, its texture, and fabrics.” They described the worm sheath as still “flexible, as shown by its soft deformation.”4 No dark, crusty toast there.
 
The toast model has a few merits, but ultimately swaps bad logic for a decay experiment and ignores non-toasted, still-soft proteins in fossils. Back to the drawing board—the toast model belongs back on the hot plate.

References
1. Wiemann, J. et al. 2018. Fossilization transforms vertebrate hard tissue proteins into N-heterocyclic polymers, Nature Communications. 9: 4741.
2. B-Rex. 60 Minutes. Aired on CBS November 15, 2009. Posted on youtube.com December 26, 2010.
3. Armitage, M. H., and K. L. Anderson. 2013. Soft sheets of fibrillar bone from a fossil of the supraorbital horn of the dinosaur Triceratops horridus. Acta Histochemica. 115(6): 603-608.
4. Moczydlowska, M., F. Westall, F. Foucher. 2014. Microstructure and Biogeochemistry of the Organically Preserved Ediacaran Metazoan Sabellidites. Journal of Paleontology. 88(2): 224-239.
 
Brian Thomas is Science Writer at the Institute for Creation Research.
 
Article posted on December 20, 2018.

The Latest
CREATION PODCAST
Homo Naledi: The Lies Behind Evolution's Rising Star | The Creation...
Homo naledi, once evolution's 'rising star,' was considered to be a prime example of human evolution. But is it really proof? Or...

NEWS
A Subsurface Ocean on Mimas?
Scientists have analyzed data obtained from the Cassini spacecraft and concluded that irregularities in the orbit of Saturn’s moon Mimas indicate...

NEWS
In Theaters March 20 & 21: The Ark and the Darkness
Is Genesis true? What about Noah’s Flood? How did Noah fit the animals on the ark? Wasn’t it a local flood? Have you asked these questions? Though...

NEWS
Enigmatic Fossil Plants
The pre-Flood world thousands of years ago was unlike the world of today.1 Unfamiliar animals and plants were common, and there were a lot...

NEWS
Surprisingly Colorful Fossil Snail Shells
Finding organic compounds such as flexible dinosaur collagen and complete bone cells1,2 is becoming common, much to the shock and consternation...

NEWS
March 2024 ICR Wallpaper
"He is not here; for He is risen, as He said." (Matthew 28:6 NKJV) ICR March 2024 wallpaper is now available for mobile, tablet,...

CREATION PODCAST
Homo Erectus: The Shocking Truth About the "Ape Man"...
Homo erectus, or "Upright Man," has been upheld as a piece of mankind's "evolutionary history" since its discovery in 1891....

NEWS
Mystery of Moths' Warning Sound
Insects of all types continue to amaze entomologists with their design and physiology. Cleveland Hickman, Jr., et al. stated, “insect ears are...

NEWS
Geneticist Fired for Affirming Humans Once Lived 900 Years?
Geneticist Alexander Kudryavtsev, the head of the Russian Academy of Science’s Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, has been fired, reportedly...

ACTS & FACTS
Creation Kids: Solar Eclipses
Designed by Susan Windsor* You're never too young to be a creation scientist and explore our Creator's world. Kids, discover fun facts...