A Call for Extensive Investigation into Microbial Roles in Fossilization

The process of fossilization is a multiple-path maze that uses different roads, or various combinations of roads to take a variety of input factors such as; organisms, environment, sediment, etc., and produces a preserved record of that starting organism or trace of an organism. One of the factors that often gets overlooked in depictions or accounts of preservation is the effect that bacteria have, not only in destroying the tissue but also in preserving it through biomanipulation of the microclimate, precipitation of minerals on the soft tissue or producing a microbial film to glue an organism to the bottom of an environment long enough to be covered by sediment. (Gab et. al. 2020, Lin et. al. 2020, Janssen et. al. 2022) Determining the role of microbes in fossilization and the microbes responsible for it is both an achievable and important step in understanding the rapidity and process of fossilization. Experiments would include finding microbes that occur naturally in depositional environments that can change the chemical composition of the surrounding environment to balance the conditions needed for the preservation of the organism before it decays or is completely consumed, potentially by the same microbes. The goal of these experiments would be to observe and document the effect that the bacteria would have not only on the preservation process of the organic material but also the microbes' effects on the surrounding sediment and matrix, comparing the results to known soft tissue preservation. This could be used to estimate the upper and lower time limits for the preservation of organic material. As well as the environments in which the organisms died and were buried. Due to the wide overlap of disciplines in play, it would be suggested that at least three people collaborate on these experiments, having specialties in organic or inorganic chemistry, microorganisms, and geology or fossils. Sources cited Gab, F., C. Ballhaus, E. Stinnesbeck, A.G. Kra, K. Janssen and G. Bierbaum. 2020. Experimental taphonomy of fish-role of elevated pressure, salinity, and pH. Scientific Reports https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-64651-8 Lin, C.Y., A.V. Turchyn, A. Krylov, G. Antler. 2020. The Microbially Driven Formation of Siderite in Salt Marsh Sediments. Geobiology. 18, pg 207-224. DOI:10.1111/gbl.12571 Janssen, K., B. Mahler, J Rust, G Bierbaum, and V. E. Mcoy. 2022. The Complex Role of Microbial Metabolic Activity in Fossilization. Biological Reviews, 97, pp. 449–465. 449 doi: 10.1111/brv.12806