Uwe Bergmann

SLAC National Accelerator

Laboratory

2012 California Science Education Conference,

San José, CA, October 20, 2012

bergmann@slac.stanford.edu

Hermann von Meyer

(1801-1869)

August 15, 1861:

‘From the lithographic shale in

Solnhofen, Bavaria I was informed

about the slab and counter slab of a

fossil, which with great clarity can

be evidenced as a feather that is not

distinguishable from bird feathers. In

the very well known organization of

pterodactyls, there is nothing known

that could be concluded as a

plumage; this would therefore be the

remains of a bird of the pre-tertiary.’

Meyer, H. von (1861): Vogel-Federn und Palpipes priscus von Solenhofen. Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie,

Geognosie, Geologie und Petrefakten-Kunde 1861: V + 561 [Article in German].

ἀρχαῖος (archaīos) = ancient

πτέρυξ (ptéryx) = feather

Hermann von Meyer

(1801-1869)

Meyer, H. von (1861): Archaeopteryx litographica (Vogel-Feder) und Pterodactylus von Solenhofen.

N. Jhb. Mineralogie, Geognosie, Geologie und Petrefakten-Kunde 1861: V + 678 - 679 [Article in German].

September 30, 1861:

‘Following my letter from August 15, I can now

report that I have studied the feather from

Solnhofen in detail and I came to the conclusion

that it is a true fossilization of the lithographic shale

and in complete agreement with a bird feather. At

the same time I have received news from Mr.

Justice Councilor Witte, that an almost complete

skeleton of an animal covered with feathers was

found. Compared to living birds it shows some

differences. I will publish the feather that I studied

with an exact drawing. For the description of the

animal I suggest the name Archaeopteryx

lithographica.’

W. Nichols, Munich

Hou L., Zhou Z., Gu Y., Zhang H., 1995, "Confuciusornis sanctus, a new Late

Jurassic sauriurine bird from China", Chinese Science Bulletin, 40: 1545–1551

Confuciusornis

Confuciusornis

Confuciusornis sanctus

Archaeopteryx

Thermopolis Archaeopteryx

Most of what we learn about fossils comes from the

fossilized bones and remaining imprints from soft tissue.

Do fossils contain more than is visible by the eye?

- What about the `Chemical Fossil?

- Are chemical elements that make up the living organism

still preserved after more than 100 million years?

- What can we learn about the chemistry of the fossilized

animal in comparison with related existing species?

- What can we learn about the fossilization process?

- Can we reveal soft tissues and possibly their coloration?

Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen

1845-1923

First X-ray

Image 1895

Inside of

an atom

Electron

Nucleus

Orbit

xfs_final.mov

Ca Fe Zn Pb

25.00m

pinhole

Wiggler

(54 pole, 1T) M

0 M1

Si mono

slit slit

13.86m 18.80m

collimator

slit

Manganese

Inorganic

precipitates

(Pyrolusite)

typical for

limestone

Bromine

Synthetic fill

Curation

artefacts

Chlorine

56

Copper

Trace copper

associated

with the bone

Zinc

We can

detect zinc

associated

with the bone

Modern gulls have zinc levels in bone of approximately

100 ppm (parts per million).

Forensic and palaeontological studies have shown zinc

may be conserved in bone over millions of years

Zinc in Archaeopteryx skull is 50 ppm, twice as high as the

sedimentary matrix, suggesting this is the residue of the

original trace metal and that Archaeopteryx had zinc and

copper body levels similar to modern birds!

This is of great interest, because zinc and copper are critical

‘minerals’ for bird health. We can now infer that this was

probably the same for the first bird!

We did not find any trace metals in the feathers.

Phosphorous

Phosphorous

Feather shafts

are visible!

Sulfur

Archaeopteryx bone chemistry was similar

to modern birds (at least zinc and copper)

Sulfur is a key component of feather

protein, and phosphorous is known to be

present at trace levels as well.

Point analyses show that the phosphorous

and sulfur levels measured in the fossil

shafts are LOWER than levels in modern

feather shafts.

Original soft tissue chemistry has survived

but is invisible in ordinary light!

Confuciusornis sanctus

Ca

Cu Ca

Zn S

EXAFS to determine Cu coordination

Confuciusornis sanctus

Confuciusornis sanctus

Archaeopteryx bone chemistry was similar to

modern birds (at least zinc and copper)

Feather chemistry can be resolved for the first

time despite study for over 150 years!

Synchrotron XRF can map trace organometallic

biomarkers in Confuciusornis sanctus

Feather coloration may be determined even when

physical evidence for feathers is lacking

SRS-XRF and X-ray spectroscopy are powerful non-

destructive tools for studying fossils

We think that this is just the beginning

U. Bergmann, R. W. Morton, P. L. Manning, W. I. Sellers, S. Farrar, K. G.

Huntley, R. A. Wogelius, and P. Larson, Proceedings of the National

Academy of Science, 107, 9060-9065 (2010).

R. A. Wogelius, P. L. Manning, H. E. Barden,N. P. Edwards,S. M. Webb,4

W. I. Sellers,K. G. Taylor, P. L. Larson, P. Dodson, H. You, L. Da-qing, and

U. Bergmann, Science 333, 1622-1626 (2011).

Many images were taken from Peter Wellnhofer: Archaeopteryx – Der

Urvogel von Solnhofen”, Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, Munich, Germany,

ISBN 978-3-89937-076-8 (2008)

Work is part of a National Geographic special “Jurassic CSI’ (Episode 3 ‘IN

LIVING COLOR’ and Episode 6 ‘SKIN DEEP”)

Berlin Archaeopteryx (counterpart) and holotype feather were scanned in

December 2010 at SLAC, publication is coming up

Ryan Carney et al, Nature, 637 (2012)

Roy Wogelius (Manchester, geochemistry guru)

Phil Manning (Manchester, palaeo-wizard)

Bill Sellers (Manchester, bio-statistician on call)

Holly Barden, Nick Edwards (Manchester, the sleepless)

Pete Larson (Black Hills Institute, fossil hunter)

Sam Farrar (Black Hills Institute, deputy fossil hunter)

Bob Morton (CWM Institute, x-ray and fossil lover)

Ken Huntley (CWM Institute, image processing fanatic)

Martin George and Alex Garachtchenko

(software and readout for rapid scanning)

David Day, Bart Johnson, J.R. Troxel,

Tom Hostettler, Tom Rabedeau (X-rays)

Jeff Maske (machining)

Matthew Latimer, Allyson Aranda,

Erik Nelson (detectors)

Andy Prado (electrical power)

Kelen Tuttle, Brad Plummer, Gregory Stewart

and many more……..

THANK YOU

manganese = blue

calcium = red

zinc = green