In an extraordinary biological study, researchers have used chemical analysis to demonstrate that ink preserved in the remains of two cephalopod fossils that date over 160 million years ago to the Jurassic period is almost identical to that used by modern common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) today. The cephalopod fossils were found at sites in Christian Malford, Wiltshire (162 million years old) and Lyme Regis, Dorset (195 million years old) in the UK and included preserved three-dimensional ink sacs. Biological tissues rarely survive in fossilised material as they are almost always quickly degraded by microorganisms. But some types of organic substances found in living organisms may last for long periods of time if they are polymeric - large and made up of multiple subunits - and have a tough cross-linked structure. One such substance is melanin, of which the form eumelanin - which takes a dark black or brown colour - is known to be a key chemical component of modern common cuttlefish ink.  Cephalopods use the dark-coloured ink to reduce visibility when threatened so they can rapidly escape without being caught. Mucus is also sometimes added to the ink allowing it to hold a form for a limited period of time, giving the illusion of ‘false bodies’ that act to distract predators from the real organism. Eumelanin remains were found to be well preserved in the ancient fossilised ink sacs through a number of different chemical tests. The maintenance of ink chemical composition over this huge period of time suggests that the use of ink as an anti-predator strategy has retained its evolutionary benefit for well over 160 million years and is fully optimised for its purpose. Ref: Glass K. et al., 2012. Direct chemical evidence for eumelanin pigment from the Jurassic period. PNAS Online before print [link]

In an extraordinary biological study, researchers have used chemical analysis to demonstrate that ink preserved in the remains of two cephalopod fossils that date over 160 million years ago to the Jurassic period is almost identical to that used by modern common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) today. The cephalopod fossils were found at sites in Christian Malford, Wiltshire (162 million years old) and Lyme Regis, Dorset (195 million years old) in the UK and included preserved three-dimensional ink sacs. Biological tissues rarely survive in fossilised material as they are almost always quickly degraded by microorganisms. But some types of organic substances found in living organisms may last for long periods of time if they are polymeric - large and made up of multiple subunits - and have a tough cross-linked structure. One such substance is melanin, of which the form eumelanin - which takes a dark black or brown colour - is known to be a key chemical component of modern common cuttlefish ink.  Cephalopods use the dark-coloured ink to reduce visibility when threatened so they can rapidly escape without being caught. Mucus is also sometimes added to the ink allowing it to hold a form for a limited period of time, giving the illusion of ‘false bodies’ that act to distract predators from the real organism. Eumelanin remains were found to be well preserved in the ancient fossilised ink sacs through a number of different chemical tests. The maintenance of ink chemical composition over this huge period of time suggests that the use of ink as an anti-predator strategy has retained its evolutionary benefit for well over 160 million years and is fully optimised for its purpose.


Ref: Glass K. et al., 2012. Direct chemical evidence for eumelanin pigment from the Jurassic period. PNAS Online before print [link]

  1. willbrown3396 reblogged this from zoo-logic
  2. thesacrificialgoat reblogged this from zoo-logic
  3. sarahthespacecadet reblogged this from zoo-logic
  4. autumnrainepresley reblogged this from zoo-logic
  5. eartbnd0gsdfj reblogged this from zoo-logic
  6. louislouiton reblogged this from raucousvaux
  7. raucousvaux reblogged this from hampshirecollegeanimalbehavior
  8. stonedshark reblogged this from zoo-logic
  9. brinnabot reblogged this from zoo-logic
  10. khaleesi-of-baker-street reblogged this from zoo-logic
  11. honeydew-boba reblogged this from ody-ssea
  12. ody-ssea reblogged this from zoo-logic
  13. lookinginobviousplaces reblogged this from zoo-logic
  14. nomoreinnocents reblogged this from zoo-logic
  15. hampshirecollegeanimalbehavior reblogged this from zoo-logic
  16. shipwreck-shark reblogged this from zoo-logic
  17. zahoolficle reblogged this from zoo-logic
  18. zoo-logic posted this