{"id":29495,"date":"2025-10-13T10:28:38","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T02:28:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/?post_type=media-release&p=29495"},"modified":"2025-10-13T10:28:41","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T02:28:41","slug":"skin-deep-new-research-reveals-the-secret-to-ancient-fish-scales-survival","status":"publish","type":"media-release","link":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/media-release\/skin-deep-new-research-reveals-the-secret-to-ancient-fish-scales-survival\/","title":{"rendered":"Skin deep: New research reveals the secret to ancient fish scales\u2019 survival"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Â鶹ֱ²¥-led international study<\/a> has solved the mystery of how the skin of a fossilised fish was able to be preserved for 52 million years, extending our understanding of how even the most delicate of biological material can survive deep time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published in Environmental Microbiology<\/em>, the research examined a remarkably well-preserved specimen of Diplomystus dentatus<\/em> complete with fossilised skin and scales, found in the \u2018Fossil Basin\u2019 region of Wyoming in the United States of America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite being in an oxygen elevated micro-environment which would normally cause tissues to decay, the team discovered the initial degradation of the fish\u2019s fatty skin also led to an environment where phosphate minerals could form and rapidly replace organic material \u2013 leading to fossilisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the skin broke down, it released fatty acids and hydrogen ions, altering the surrounding chemistry in a way that favoured phosphate preservation by effectively blocking the usual carbonate deposits which would have otherwise caused the tissues to decay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lead author Dr Amy Elson<\/a> from Curtin\u2019s School of Earth and Planetary Sciences<\/a> said the findings challenged long-held assumptions about the role of oxygen in fossilisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe usually think of low-oxygen, or \u2018anoxic\u2019, conditions as essential for preserving soft tissues because oxygen promotes decay,\u201d Dr Elson said.

\u201cBut this case shows even in oxygen-rich settings, unique chemical conditions can protect delicate tissues for tens of millions of years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur work provides new insights into why some fossils preserve incredible detail while others do not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senior author, WA-Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre<\/a> Founding Director and ARC Laureate Fellow Professor Kliti Grice<\/a> said the study had wider implications beyond advancing paleontological science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis discovery broadens our understanding of fossilisation and the chemical conditions that allow biological materials to persist,\u201d Professor Grice said.

\u201cBeyond reconstructing Earth\u2019s evolutionary history, understanding these processes could inspire new ways to preserve biological materials in medicine, guide exploration for energy and mineral resources and improve methods for locking away carbon in sediments to help tackle climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt shows how looking back deep into Earth\u2019s past can help address challenges we face today and in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Fossilization of fish soft tissue in oxidative microniches of anoxic sediments<\/em>\u2019 was published in Environmental Microbiology<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Â鶹ֱ²¥-led international study has solved the mystery of how the skin of a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4457,"featured_media":29496,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","wds_primary_category":284,"wds_primary_research-areas":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[284],"tags":[],"research-areas":[],"class_list":["post-29495","media-release","type-media-release","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science-and-engineering"],"acf":{"experts":false,"post_options":{"":null,"additional_content":{"title":"","content":"","image":false},"related_courses":[{"title":"","qualification":"","link":"","description":"","faculty":""}],"credits":{"author":"","photographer":"","media":[22646,24387]},"display_author":true,"banner":{"image":false}}},"featured_image":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Diplomystus-dentatus.-Credit-Wikimedia-Commons-1000x500.jpg","author_meta":{"first_name":"Sam","last_name":"Jeremic","display_name":"Samuel Jeremic"},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media-release\/29495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media-release"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/media-release"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media-release\/29495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29495"},{"taxonomy":"research-areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-areas?post=29495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}