Molecular paleontology

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Molecular paleontology refers to the recovery and analysis of DNA, proteins, carbohydrates, or lipids, and their diagenetic products from ancient human, animal, and plant remains.[1][2] The field of molecular paleontology has yielded important insights into evolutionary events, species' diasporas, the discovery and characterization of extinct species.

In shallow time, advancements in the field of molecular paleontology have allowed scientists to pursue evolutionary questions on a genetic level rather than relying on phenotypic variation alone. By applying molecular analytical techniques to DNA in recent animal remains, one can quantify the level of relatedness between any two organisms for which DNA has been recovered.[3] Using various biotechnological techniques such as DNA isolation, amplification, and sequencing[4] scientists have been able to acquire and expand insights into the divergence and evolutionary history of countless recently extinct organisms. In February 2021, scientists reported, for the first time, the sequencing of DNA from animal remains, a mammoth in this instance, over a million years old, the oldest DNA sequenced to date.[5][6]

In deep time, compositional heterogeneities in carbonaceous remains of a diversity of animals, ranging in age from the Neoproterozoic to the Recent, have been linked to biological signatures encoded in modern biomolecules via a cascade of oxidative fossilization reactions.[7][8][9][10] The macromolecular composition of carbonaceous fossils, some Tonian in age,[11] preserve biological signatures reflecting original biomineralization, tissue types, metabolism, and relationship affinities (phylogeny).[9]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Marota was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Schweitzer MH (April 2004). "Molecular paleontology: some current advances and problems". Annales de Paléontologie. 90 (2): 81–102. Bibcode:2004AnPal..90...81H. doi:10.1016/j.annpal.2004.02.001. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  3. ^ Shapiro B, Hofreiter M (January 2014). "A paleogenomic perspective on evolution and gene function: new insights from ancient DNA". Science. 343 (6169): 1236573. Bibcode:2014Sci...34336573S. doi:10.1126/science.1236573. PMID 24458647. S2CID 1015148.
  4. ^ Waggoner B (2001). "Molecular Palaeontology" (PDF). Encyclopedia of Life Sciences. Nature Publishing Group: 1–5.
  5. ^ Hunt K (17 February 2021). "World's oldest DNA sequenced from a mammoth that lived more than a million years ago". CNN News. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  6. ^ Callaway E (February 2021). "Million-year-old mammoth genomes shatter record for oldest ancient DNA". Nature. 590 (7847): 537–538. Bibcode:2021Natur.590..537C. doi:10.1038/d41586-021-00436-x. PMID 33597786.
  7. ^ Anderson L (May 2023). "A chemical framework for the preservation of fossil vertebrate cells and soft tissues". Earth-Science Reviews. 240: 104367. Bibcode:2023ESRv..24004367A. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2023.104367. S2CID 257326012.
  8. ^ Wiemann J, Fabbri M, Yang TR, Stein K, Sander PM, Norell MA, Briggs DE (November 2018). "Fossilization transforms vertebrate hard tissue proteins into N-heterocyclic polymers". Nature Communications. 9 (1): 4741. Bibcode:2018NatCo...9.4741W. doi:10.1038/s41467-018-07013-3. PMC 6226439. PMID 30413693.
  9. ^ a b Wiemann J, Crawford JM, Briggs DE (July 2020). "Phylogenetic and physiological signals in metazoan fossil biomolecules". Science Advances. 6 (28): eaba6883. Bibcode:2020SciA....6.6883W. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aba6883. PMC 7439315. PMID 32832604.
  10. ^ Boatman EM, Goodwin MB, Holman HN, Fakra S, Zheng W, Gronsky R, Schweitzer MH (October 2019). "Mechanisms of soft tissue and protein preservation in Tyrannosaurus rex". Scientific Reports. 9 (1): 15678. Bibcode:2019NatSR...915678B. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-51680-1. PMC 6821828. PMID 31666554.
  11. ^ Tang Q, Pang K, Li G, Chen L, Yuan X, Xiao S (September 2021). "One-billion-year-old epibionts highlight symbiotic ecological interactions in early eukaryote evolution". Gondwana Research. 97: 22–33. Bibcode:2021GondR..97...22T. doi:10.1016/j.gr.2021.05.008. ISSN 1342-937X.