Preservation of three-dimensional anatomy in phosphatized fossil arthropods enriches evolutionary inference
Achim H Schwermann,
Tomy dos Santos Rolo,
Michael S Caterino,
Günter Bechly,
Heiko Schmied,
Tilo Baumbach,
Thomas van de Kamp
Affiliations
Achim H Schwermann
Steinmann Institute for Geology, Mineralogy and Paleontology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
Tomy dos Santos Rolo
ANKA/Institute for Photon Science and Synchrotron Radiation, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
Michael S Caterino
Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, United States
Günter Bechly
State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
Heiko Schmied
Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
Tilo Baumbach
ANKA/Institute for Photon Science and Synchrotron Radiation, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany; Laboratory for Applications of Synchrotron Radiation, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
ANKA/Institute for Photon Science and Synchrotron Radiation, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany; Laboratory for Applications of Synchrotron Radiation, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
External and internal morphological characters of extant and fossil organisms are crucial to establishing their systematic position, ecological role and evolutionary trends. The lack of internal characters and soft-tissue preservation in many arthropod fossils, however, impedes comprehensive phylogenetic analyses and species descriptions according to taxonomic standards for Recent organisms. We found well-preserved three-dimensional anatomy in mineralized arthropods from Paleogene fissure fillings and demonstrate the value of these fossils by utilizing digitally reconstructed anatomical structure of a hister beetle. The new anatomical data facilitate a refinement of the species diagnosis and allowed us to reject a previous hypothesis of close phylogenetic relationship to an extant congeneric species. Our findings suggest that mineralized fossils, even those of macroscopically poor preservation, constitute a rich but yet largely unexploited source of anatomical data for fossil arthropods.
