Survival of mineral-bound peptides into the Miocene

Elife. 2022 Dec 19:11:e82849. doi: 10.7554/eLife.82849.

Abstract

Previously, we showed that authentic peptide sequences could be obtained from 3.8-Ma-old ostrich eggshell (OES) from the site of Laetoli, Tanzania (Demarchi et al., 2016). Here, we show that the same sequences survive in a >6.5 Ma OES recovered from a palaeosteppe setting in northwestern China. The eggshell is thicker than those observed in extant species and consistent with the Liushu Struthio sp. ootaxon. These findings push the preservation of ancient proteins back to the Miocene and highlight their potential for paleontology, paleoecology, and evolutionary biology.

Keywords: Struthio; biochemistry; chemical biology; eggshell; evolutionary biology; miocene; proteomics.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Biological Evolution
  • Fossils*
  • Paleontology*
  • Peptides

Substances

  • Peptides

Grants and funding

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.