FOR 2685: The Limits of the Fossil Record: Analytical and Experimental Approaches to Fossilization
© for2685

First Funding Period, January 2018–July 2021
Research Clusters, Projects, and Members of FOR 2685

Cluster A: Preservation of Mineralized Tissues

  • A1   Experimental alteration of bones and teeth: Quantification of effects on inorganic and organic compounds — Principal Investigators Prof. Dr. Thorsten Geisler and Prof. Dr. Thomas Tütken, Ph.D. student Anna Kral
  • A2   Organic phase (extracellular matrix, osteocyte, blood vessel) preservation in dinosaur bone: Chemical composition and hypotheses — Principal Investigators Prof. Dr. P. Martin Sander and Prof. Dr. Christa Müller, Ph.D. students Kayleigh Weyand and Mariam Tahoun
  • A3   The organic phase in dinosaur eggshell: Analysis, models of preservation, and implications for the evolution of bird reproduction — Principal Investigators PD Dr. Marianne Engeser and Prof. Dr. P. Martin Sander, Ph.D. student Anne Schnell, postdoctoral researcher Dr. Tzu-Ruei Yang

Cluster B: Permineralization of Non-mineralized Tissues

  • B1   Physicochemical and microbial processes governing the decay of organic substance in sediment under anoxic conditions — Principal Investigator Prof. Dr. Chris Ballhaus, postdoctoral researcher Dr. Fabian Gäb
  • B2   From cell to cell, tissue to tissue: Pathways in low-temperature wood silicification — Principal Investigators PD Dr. Carole T. Gee and Prof. Dr. Chris Ballhaus, postdoctoral researchers Dr. Moritz Liesegang/Dr. Shook Ling Low
  • B3   The impact of bacterial activity on decay and fossilization of arthropods: An experimental approach — Principal Investigators Prof. Dr. Gabriele Bierbaum and Prof. Dr. Jes Rust, Ph.D. students Kathrin Janssen and Bastian Mähler
  • B4   U–Pb systematics of fossilized biogenic tissues as a tracer of long-term diagenetic processes — Principal Investigator Prof. Dr. Thorsten Geisler, postdoc researcher Dr. Frank Tomaschek

Cluster C: Alteration of Non-mineralized Tissues and Compounds

  • C1   The detection of antiherbivore secondary compounds in the fossil record and their potential role in defense against insects — Principal Investigators Prof. Dr. Torsten Wappler and Prof. Dr. Jes Rust, postdoc researcher Dr. Victoria McCoy/Ph.D. student Madieh Malekhosseini
  • C2   Soft tissue preservation in amber: A comparative study on the taphonomy and limits of fossilization of resin embedded arthropods — Principal Investigator Prof. Dr. Jes Rust, Ph.D. student Jonas Barthel

 

More information on the First Funding Period is available here: http://FOR2685.geisler-wierwille.eu

 Youtube: Analytical and Imaging Instruments for Understanding Fossilization

Second Funding Period, July 2021–July 2024
Research Clusters, Projects, and Members of FOR 2685

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© for2685

Cluster A: Preservation of Mineralized Tissues

  • A4   Fossilization of bone studied in-operando by fluid-cell Raman spectroscopy — Principal Investigator Prof. Dr. Thorsten Geisler, postdoctoral researcher Dr. Anna Kral/ postdoctoral researcher Dr. Frank Tomaschek
  • A5   Organic phase (extracellular matrix, osteocyte, blood vessel, Sharpey’s fiber) in dinosaur bone: Chemical composition and hypotheses of preservation — Principal Investigators Prof. Dr. Martin Sander/Prof. Dr. Thomas Tütken  and Prof. Dr. Christa Müller, Ph.D. students Mariam Tahoun and Kayleigh Weyand
  • A6   Chemical and mineralogical changes of calcareous shell material during fossilisation processes – an experimental approach —Principal Investigators Prof. Dr. Thomas Tütken and Prof. Dr. Bernd Schöne, Ph.D. student Laura Fink/Ph.D. student Daniel Vigelius

Cluster B: Permineralization of Non-mineralized Tissues

  • B5   Experimental studies on the genesis of phosphatized fish fossils in calcareous concretions — Principal Investigator and postdoctoral researcher Dr. Fabian Gäb/Prof. Dr. Thorsten Geisler

Cluster C: Alteration of Non-mineralized Tissues and Compounds

  • C3   Destruction, decay, and preservation: Early fossilization of leaf compressions — Principal Investigators PD Dr. Carole Gee and Prof. Dr. Gabriele Bierbaum, postdoctoral researcher Dr. Brianne Palmer
  • C4   The role of microbes and biofilms in leaf fossilization — Principal Investigators Prof. Dr. Gabriele Bierbaum and PD Dr. Carole Gee, postdoctoral researcher Dr. Sabina Karačić
  • C5   Soft tissue preservation in amber II – a multi-methodical approach towards the understanding of amber taphonomy — Principal Investigator Prof. Dr. Jes Rust, postdoctoral researcher Dr. Bastian Mähler
  • C6   Searching for biological pigments and structural color in fossil plants — Principal Investigators PD Dr. Carole Gee and Prof. Dr. Christa Müller; postdoctoral researcher Dr. Klaus Wolkenstein

Cluster M: Methods and Archives

  • M1  MALDI imaging and analysis of fossils — Principal Investigator PD Dr. Marianne Engeser, Ph.D. student Marius Herbst

International Workshop on Fossilization
University of Bonn, June 14–17, 2024

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© Carole Gee

     The International Workshop on Fossilization sponsored by DFG Research Unit FOR 2685 was held at the University of Bonn from June 14 to 17, 2024.  Specialists on the fossilization of plants and animals, as well as on cutting-edge methods applied to elucidate fossilization, were featured in a series of 20 talks over the long weekend.  Experts came from all corners of the globe, but the meeting also showcased the work of early-career scientists.

     At the end of the workshop, two round-table discussions were held.  The topic of the first session was Microbes, biofilms, and fossilization, led by Brianne Palmer, while the second session on Fossilization of dinosaur hard and soft tissues was moderated by Phillip Manning.

     Below is a list of topics, speakers, and titles of the exciting talks on fossilization.  All talk abstracts were published in the journal Terra Nostra, and the open-access abstract volume is available online here.   

Welcome to Bonn

  • DFG FOR 2685 Speaker Carole Gee

Fossil lagerstätten [Moderator: Thomas Tütken]

  • Derek E. G. Briggs: Exceptional fossils—The marine record
  • Andrew C. Rozefelds: Sub-basaltic silcrete permineralisation of Eocene-Miocene forest floor in eastern Australia
  • Carole T. Gee and Victoria E. McCoy: Exceptional plant fossilization in the middle Eocene lignites of the Geiseltal fossil lagerstätte, Germany
  • John R. Foster: Carbonaceous preservation of vertebrate, invertebrate, and plant soft tissue in a single fossil deposit in the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation, USA

Methods development and application [Moderator: Marianne Engeser]

  • Phillip L. Manning and Victoria M. Egerton: Impossible fossils
  • ReBecca Hunt-Foster, Alan Titus, David Polly, and Celina Suarez: Geochemical fingerprinting using portable X-ray fluorescence and rare earth elements of Late Jurassic fossils from the Colorado Plateau, USA
  • Marius Herbst and Marianne Engeser: MALDI imaging—A possible application for fossils?
  • H. James Cleaves II, Grethe Hystad, Anirudh Prabhu, Michael L. Wong, George D. Cody, Sophia Economon, and Robert M. Hazen: A robust, agnostic molecular biosignature based on machine learning

Experimental taphonomy [Moderator: Derek E. G. Briggs]

  • Thomas Tütken, Michael Weber, Katrin Weber, Anna Kral, Sven Brömme, Hubert Vonhof, Tina Lüdecke, Alfredo Martinez-Garcia, Thorsten Geisler, and Michael Wiedenbeck: 
    In vitro alteration experiments on teeth: Effects on in vivo isotope compositions
  • Mariah M. Howell, Carole T. Gee, and Karl-Heinz Südekum: Experimental production of herbivore coprolites: What’s left after digestion?

Preservation & fossilization through microbial mediation [Moderator: Gabriele Bierbaum]

  • Karim Benzerara, Fériel Skouri-Panet, Elodie Duprat, Emmanuel Letavernier, and Julie Cosmidis: The induction of phosphogenesis by bacteria—Who and how?
  • Fabian M. Gäb, Sabina Karačić, Richard Wirth, Gabriele Bierbaum, and Christoph Bultmann: Enzymatically induced apatite formation as a key mechanism in fish fossilization: An experimental study
  • Miguel Iniesto: Experimental taphonomy with cyanobacterial mats: Unveiling the role of these communities in fossilization
  • Brianne Palmer, Sabina Karačić, Gabriele Bierbaum, and Carole T. Gee: Microbial biofilms and sediment interactions: Key factors in the early stages of leaf decay and preservation
  • Sabina Karačić, Brianne Palmer, Jesenko Karačić, Esther Sib, Fabian Gäb, Carole T. Gee, and Gabriele Bierbaum: Experimental biofilm-mediated mineralization of leaves
  • Qiang Li, Jun Liu, Fabian Gäb, and P. Martin Sander: Fossilization and low-grade metamorphism of Triassic marine reptiles from southwest China: A continuum of apatite transformation and fluorite precipitation

Amber chemistry and fossil plant pigments [Moderator: Christa Müller]

  • Connor M. McDermott, Parker L. Flanders, and Elizabeth A. Ambrose: Paleopharmaceuticals—Analysis and identification of abietane-type diterpenoids in Baltic amber samples as potential drug scaffolds
  • Tzu-Ruei Yang, Yun-Ru Chen, Yao-Chang Lee, Chun-Chieh Wang, and Liang-Jian Shiau: A chemicotaxonomical survey of Southeast Asian fossil resins and its taphonomical implications for their fossilization processes
  • Victoria M. Egerton, Phillip L. Manning, and Roy Wogelius: Synchrotron-based analysis of fossil plant pigments
  • Klaus Wolkenstein, Christa E. Müller, Marianne Engeser, and Carole T. Gee: Detection and quantification of biological pigments in fossil leaves by targeted mass spectrometry

Closing remarks

  • DFG FOR 2685 Speaker: Carole T. Gee

Student theses on fossilization

  1. Yang, T.-R.  2018.  The reproductive biology of Cretaceous oviraptorid dinosaurs and its implication for the origin of bird reproduction.  Ph.D. dissertation in Biology, Institute of Geosciences, Division of Paleontology, University of Bonn [Project A3]
  2. Scheil, M.  2018.  U-Pb systematics of fossil biogenic apatite from the Morrison Formation (USA) and the Langenberg Quarry (Germany).  M.Sc. thesis in Geosciences, Institute of Geosciences, Division of Paleontology, University of Bonn [Project B4]
  3. Krick, A.  2018.  Petrographische und geochemische Untersuchungen von verkieseltem Holz aus dem Escalante Petrified Forest State Park in Utah (USA).  B.Sc. thesis in Geosciences, Institute of Geosciences, Division of Geochemistry and Petrology, University of Bonn [Project B4]
  4. Egger, F.  2018.  Petrographische und geochemische Untersuchungen fossiler Knochen aus Tendaguru (Tansania) B.Sc. thesis in Geosciences, Institute of Geosciences, Division of Geochemistry and Petrology, University of Bonn [Project B4]
  5. Gäb, F.  2019.  Experimental data from siderite formation in Superior type BIFs on the CO2 partial pressure in the Archaean atmosphere.  Ph.D. dissertation in Geosciences, Institute of Geosciences, Division of Geochemistry and Petrology, University of Bonn [Project B1]
  6. Gerschermann, S.  2019.  Untersuchungen von Mikrostrukturen und Viskositäten zur Klärung der Ablagerungen und der Fossilisation in den Solnhofener Plattenkalken.  B.Sc. thesis in Geosciences, Institute of Geosciences, Division of Geochemistry and Petrology, University of Bonn [Project B1]
  7. Henkemeier, N.  2019. Redescription of the soft part preservation in the holotype of Scaphognathus crassirostris (Goldfuß, 1831). M.Sc. thesis in Geosciences, Institute of Geosciences, Division of Paleontology, University of Bonn [Project A2]
  8. Raubach, D.  2019.  Petrologische und geochemische Analyse von Fossilien aus der Posidonienschiefer-Formation Lias ε aus Süddeutschland. B.Sc. thesis in Geosciences, Institute of Geosciences, Division of Geochemistry and Petrology, University of Bonn [Project B4]
  9. Niedermeier, D.  2020.  Uranium-lead dating of carnelian from paleosols of the Buntsandstein.  M.Sc. thesis in Geosciences, Institute of Geosciences, Division of Geochemistry and Petrology, University of Bonn [Project B4]
  10. Sartorelli de Olivera, H.  2020.  An enhanced thaphonomic model for Brazlian Mesosauridae (Amniota, Sauropsida) using a quantitative approach.  M.Sc. thesis in Organismic Biology, Evolutionary Biology, Palaeobiology, University of Bonn [Project A2]
  11. Pereira, L. G.  2020.  Mineralogy and preservational quality of Late Mesozoic silicified wood and mineralized dinosaur bone.  M.Sc. thesis in Organismic Biology, Evolutionary Biology, Palaeobiology, University of Bonn [Project B2]
  12. Graeber, F.  2021.  Geochemical analysis of fossilized bone tissue. M.Sc. thesis in Geosciences, Institute of Geosciences, Division of Geochemistry and Petrology, University of Bonn [Project B4]
  13. Schnell, A.  2021.  Mass spectrometric analysis of short-lived intermediates and ancient fossils.  Ph.D dissertation in Chemistry, Kekulé Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bonn [Project A3]
  14. Herbst, M. 2021. Establishing MALDI imaging on a variety of samples. M. Sc. thesis in Chemistry, Kekulé-Institute for Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bonn [Project M1]
  15. Barthel, H. J.  2022.  Soft tissue preservation in amber — A study on the limits of fossilisation in amber-embedded arthropods. Ph.D. dissertation in Geosciences, Institute of Geosciences, Division of Paleontology, University of Bonn [Project C2]
  16. Janssen, K.  2022.  Der Einfluss bakterieller Aktivität auf die Präservierung und den Abbau von Weichgewebe.  Ph.D. dissertation in Biology, Institute of Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, University of Bonn [Project B3]
  17. Mähler, B.  2022.  Decay experiments on decapods under different environmental conditions and the influence of bacterial activity with regard to fossilization.  Ph.D. dissertation in Geosciences, Institute of Geosciences, Division of Paleontology, University of Bonn [Project B3]
  18. Kral, A. G.  2022.  In vitro aqueous alteration experiments on cortical bone – quantification and visualization of effects from the micro – down to the nanoscale. Ph.D. dissertation in Geoscience, Institute of Geosciences, Division of Geochemistry and Petrology, University of Bonn [Project A1]
  19. Hemmerle, M.  2022.  Die Extraktion von Kollagen aus Knochen. B.Sc. thesis in Chemistry, Kekulé-Institute for Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bonn [Project M1]
  20. Mayrhofer, A.  2022.  Quantitative Analyse von Protoporphyrin IX und Biliverdin mittels LC-MS. B.Sc. thesis in Chemistry, Kekulé-Institute for Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bonn [Project A3]
  21. Reinecke, C.  2022.  Quantitative Bestimmung von Farbpigmenten aus modernen und fossilen Eierschalen mittels LC-MS. B.Sc. thesis in Chemistry, Kekulé-Institute for Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bonn [Project A3]
  22. Malekhosseini, M.  2023.  Fossil record and new aspects of calcium biomineraliyation and plant waxes in fossil leaves.  Ph.D. dissertation in Geosciences, Institute of Geosciences, Division of Paleontology, University of Bonn [Project C1]
  23. Tahoun, M.  2023.  Development and optimization of analytical methods for identifying and quantifying organic compounds in biological and paleontological specimens. Ph.D. dissertation in Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical & Medicinal Chemistry, University of Bonn [Project A2]
  24. Kilic, N.  2024.  Temporal dynamics of microbial biofilm formation on Ginkgo foliage—Insights into the leaf decay process. M.Sc. thesis in Organismic Biology, Evolutionary Biology, Palaeobiology, University of Bonn [Project C3]

Publications of Research Unit FOR 2685, from 2018 to 2024

1.    Yang, T., Chen, Y., Wiemann, J., Spiering, B., and Sander, P. M.  2018.  Fossil eggshell cuticle elucidates dinosaur nesting ecology.  PeerJ, 6: e5144, 1–23.  https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5144
2.     McCoy, V. E., Boom, A., Wings, O., Wappler, T., Labandeira, C. C. ,and Gee, C. T.  2021.  Fossilization of the Eocene "monkeyhair" laticifer tree from Geiseltal, Germany: A deeper understanding using micro-CT and pyrolysis GC/MS.  PALAIOS, 36 (1): 1–14.  https://doi.org/10.2110/palo.2020.052
3.     McCoy, V. E., Gabbott, S. E., Penkman, K., Collins ,M. J., Presslee, S., Holt, J., Grossman, H., Wang, B., Solórzano Kraemer, M. M., Delclòs, X., and Peñalver, E.  2019.  Ancient amino acids from fossil feathers in amber.  Scientific Reports, 9: 6420.  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-42938-9
4.     Gee, C. T., Sander, P. M., Peters, S. E., El-Hennawy, M. T., Antar, M. S. M., Zalmout, I. S., and Gingerich, P. D.  2019.  Fossil burrow assemblage, not mangrove roots: Reinterpretation of the main whale-bearing layer in the late Eocene of Wadi Al-Hitan, Egypt.  Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 99 (2): 143–158.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-018-0337-0
5.    Jäger, K., Tischlinger, H., Oleschinski, G. and Sander, P. M.  2018.  Goldfuß was right: Soft part preservation in the Late Jurassic pterosaur Scaphognathus crassirostris revealed by reflectance transformation imaging (RTI) and UV light and the auspicious beginnings of paleo-art.  Palaeontologia Electronica, 21.3.4T.  https://doi.org/10.26879/713
6.    Wiemann, J., Yang, T., and Norell, M. A.  2018.  Dinosaur egg colour had a single evolutionary origin. Nature. 563 (7732): 555–558.  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0646-5
7.    Wiemann, J., Fabbri, M., Yang, T., Stein, K., Sander, P. M., Norell, M. A., and Briggs, D. E. G.  2018.  Fossilization transforms vertebrate hard tissue proteins into N-heterocyclic polymers. Nature Communications, 9: 4741.  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07013-3
8.    Stein, K., Prondvai, E., Huang, T., Baele, J., Sander, P. M., and Reisz, R.  2019.  Structure and evolutionary implications of the earliest (Sinemurian, Early Jurassic) dinosaur eggs and eggshells. Scientific Reports, 9: 4424.  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-40604-8
9.    Peris, D., Labandeira, C. C., Barrón, E., Delclòs, X., Rust, J., and Wang, B.  2020.  Generalist pollen-feeding beetles during the mid-Cretaceous.  iScience, 23 (3): 100913.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2020.100913
10.  Peris, D., and Jelínek, J.  2020.  Syninclusions of two new species of short-winged flower beetle (Coleoptera: Kateretidae) in mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber (Myanmar).  Cretaceous Research, 106: 104264.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2019.104264
11.  McCoy, V. E., Wiemann, J., Lamsdell, J. C., Whalen,C. D., Lidgard, S., Mayer, P., Petermann, H., and Briggs, D. E. G.  2020.  Chemical signatures of soft tissues distinguish between vertebrates and invertebrates from the Carboniferous Mazon Creek Lagerstätte of Illinois.  Geobiology, 18: 560–565.  https://doi.org/10.1111/gbi.12397
12.   Peris, D., and Jelínek, J.  2019.  Atypical short elytra in Cretaceous short-winged flower beetles (Coleoptera: Kateretidae).  Palaeoentomology, 2: 505–514.  https://doi.org/10.11646/palaeoentomology.2.5.14
13.   Liesegang, M., and Gee, C. T.  2020.  Silica entry and accumulation in standing trees in a hot‐spring environment: cellular pathways, rapid pace and fossilization potential. Palaeontology, 63: 651–660.  https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.12480
14.  Gee, C. T., McCoy, V. E., and Sander, P. M. (eds.). 2021.  Fossilization: Understanding the Material Nature of Ancient Plants and Animals.  John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 274 pp.
15.  Sander, P. M., and Gee C. T.  2021.  Chapter 1. Introduction to the limits of the fossil record, pp. 1–15.  In: C. T. Gee, V. E. McCoy, and P. M. Sander (eds.), Fossilization: Understanding the Material Nature of Ancient Plants and Animals.  John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
16.  Wiersma, K., Läbe, S., and Sander, P. M.  2021.  Chapter 2. Organic phase preservation in fossil dinosaur and other tetrapod bone from deep time: Extending the probable osteocyte record to the early Permian, pp. 16–54.  In: C. T. Gee, V. E. McCoy, and P. M. Sander (eds.), Fossilization: Understanding the Material Nature of Ancient Plants and Animals.  John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
17.  Yang, T.-R., and Canoville, A.  2021.  Chapter 3. Fossilization of reproduction-related hard and soft tissues and structures in non-avian dinosaurs and birds, pp. 55–72.  In: C. T. Gee, V. E. McCoy, and P. M. Sander (eds.), Fossilization: Understanding the Material Nature of Ancient Plants and Animals.  John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
18.  Geisler, T., and Menneken, M.  2021.  Chapter 4. Raman spectroscopy in fossilization research: Basic principles, applications in paleontology, and a case study on an acanthodian fish spine, pp. 73–114.  In: C. T. Gee, V. E. McCoy, and P. M. Sander (eds.), Fossilization: Understanding the Material Nature of Ancient Plants and Animals.  John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
19.  Barthel, H. J., McCoy, V. E., and Rust, J.  2021.  Chapter 5. From ultrastructure to biomolecular composition: Taphonomic patterns of tissue preservation in arthropod inclusions in amber, pp. 115–138.  In: C. T. Gee, V. E. McCoy, and P. M. Sander (eds.), Fossilization: Understanding the Material Nature of Ancient Plants and Animals.  John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
20.  Gee, C. T., and Liesegang, M.  2021.  Chapter 6. Experimental silicification of wood in the lab and field: Pivotal studies and open questions, pp. 139–158.  In: C. T. Gee, V. E. McCoy, and P. M. Sander (eds.), Fossilization: Understanding the Material Nature of Ancient Plants and Animals.  John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
21.  Liesegang, M., Tomaschek, F., and Götze, J.  2021.  Chapter 7. The structure and chemistry of silica in mineralized wood: Techniques and analysis, pp. 159–186. In: C. T. Gee, V. E. McCoy, and P. M. Sander (eds.), Fossilization: Understanding the Material Nature of Ancient Plants and Animals.  John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
22.  McCoy, V. E., Wappler, T., and Labandeira, C. C.  2021.  Chapter 8. Exceptional fossilization of ecological interactions: Plant defenses during the four major expansions of arthropod herbivory in the fossil record, pp. 187–220.  In: C. T. Gee, V. E. McCoy, and P. M. Sander (eds.), Fossilization: Understanding the Material Nature of Ancient Plants and Animals.  John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
23.  Gee, C. T., and McCoy V. E.  2021.  Chapter 9. Color in living and fossil plants: The search for biological pigments in the paleobotanical record, pp. 221–248.  In: C. T. Gee, V. E. McCoy, and P. M. Sander (eds.), Fossilization: Understanding the Material Nature of Ancient Plants and Animals.  John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
24.  McCoy, V. E.  2021.  Chapter 10. The future of fossilization, pp. 249–248.  In: C. T. Gee, V. E. McCoy, and P. M. Sander (eds.), Fossilization: Understanding the Material Nature of Ancient Plants and Animals.  John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
25.  Peris, D., Janssen, K., Barthel, H. J., Bierbaum, G., Delclòs, X., Peñalver, E., Solórzano-Kraemer, M. M., Jordal, B. H., and Rust, J.  2020.  DNA from resin-embedded organisms: Past, present and future. PLOS ONE, 15: e0239521.  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0239521
26.  Barthel, H. J., Fougerouse, D., Geisler, T., and Rust, J.  2020.  Fluoridation of a lizard bone embedded in Dominican amber suggests open-system behavior.  PLOS ONE, 15: e0228843.  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0228843
27.  Liesegang, M., and Tomaschek, F.  2020.  Tracing the continental diagenetic loop of the opal-A to opal-CT transformation with X-ray diffraction.  Sedimentary Geology, 398: 105603.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2020.105603
28.  Mähler, B., Janssen, K., Menneken, M., Tahoun, M., Lagos, M., Bierbaum, G., Müller, C., and Rust, J.  2020.  Calcite precipitation forms crystal clusters and muscle mineralization during the decomposition of Cambarellus diminutus (Decapoda: Cambaridae) in freshwater.  Palaeontologia Electronica, 23:a55.  https://doi.org/10.26879/992
29.  Peris, D.  2020.  Coleoptera in amber from Cretaceous resiniferous forests.  Cretaceous Research, 113: 104484.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104484
30.  Weber, K., Weber, M., Menneken, M., Kral, A. G., Mertz-Kraus, R., Geisler, T., Vogl, J., and Tütken, T.  2021.  Diagenetic stability of non-traditional stable isotope systems (Ca, Sr, Mg, Zn) in teeth – An in-vitro alteration experiment of biogenic apatite in isotopically enriched tracer solution. Chemical Geology, 572: 120196.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2021.120196
31.  Kral, A. G., Ziegler, A., Tütken, T., and Geisler, T.  2021.  Experimental aqueous alteration of cortical bone microarchitecture analyzed by quantitative micro-computed tomography.  Frontiers in Earth Science, 9.  https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.609496
32.  Tahoun, M., Gee, C. T., McCoy, V. E., Sander, P. M., and Müller, C. E.  2021.  Chemistry of porphyrins in fossil plants and animals.  RSC Advances, 11: 7552–7563.
https://doi.org/10.1039/d0ra10688g
33.  McCoy, V. E., Barthel, H. J., Boom, A., Peñalver, E., Delclòs, X., and Solórzano-Kraemer, M. M.  2021.  Volatile and semi-volatile composition of Cretaceous amber.  Cretaceous Research, 127: 104958.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2021.104958
34.  Gäb, F., Ballhaus, C., Stinnesbeck, E., Kral, A. G., Janssen, K., and Bierbaum, G.  2020.  Experimental taphonomy of fish – Role of elevated pressure, salinity and pH.  Scientific Reports. 10: 7839.  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-64651-8
35.  Janssen, K., Low, S. L., Wang, Y., Mu, Q., Bierbaum, G., and Gee, C. T.  2021.  Elucidating biofilm diversity on water lily leaves through 16S rRNA amplicon analysis: Comparison of four DNA extraction kits.  Applications in Plant Sciences, 9: e11444.  https://doi.org/10.1002/aps3.11444
36.  Janssen, K., Mähler, B., Rust, J., Bierbaum, G., and McCoy, V. E.  2022. The complex role of microbial metabolic activity in fossilization.  Biological Reviews, 97(2): 449–465.
https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12806
37.  McCoy, V. E., Gee, C. T., Michalski, J. M., and Wings, O. 2022.  Oldest fossil evidence of latex sabotaging behavior by herbivorous insects.  Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 300: 104631. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2022.104631
38.  Lönartz, M. I., McCoy, V. E., Gee, C. T., and Geisler, T.  2023.  Palaeoenvironmental conditions for the natural vulcanization of the Eocene “monkeyhair” laticifers from Geiseltal, Germany, as elucidated by Raman spectroscopy.  Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 103: 681–693.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-022-00566-8
39.  Gerschermann, S., Ballhaus, C., and Gäb, F.  2021.  Rheological properties of calcite oozes: Implications for the fossilisation in the plattenkalks of the Solnhofen-Eichstätt lagoons in the Franconian Alb, Germany.  PLOS ONE, 16: e0252469.  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0252469
40.  Gee, C. T., Taylor, D. W., and Rember, W. C.  2022.  First water lily, a leaf of Nymphaea sp., from the Miocene Clarkia flora, northern Idaho, USA: Occurrence, taphonomic observations, floristic implications.  Fossil Imprint, 78: 288–297.  https://doi.org/10.37520/fi.2022.011
41.  Gee, C. T., Xie, A., and Zajonz, J.  2022.  Multitrophic plant–insect–fungal interactions across 150 million years: A giant Agathoxylon tree, ancient wood-boring beetles and fungi from the Morrison Formation of NE Utah, and the brood of an extant orchard mason bee.  Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. 300: 104627.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2022.104627
42.  Jiang, H., Tomaschek, F., Muscente, A. D., Niu, C., Nyunt, T. T., Fang, Y., Schmidt, U., Chen, J., Lönartz, M., Mähler, B., Wappler, T., Jarzembowski, E. A., Szwedo, J., Zhang, H., Rust, J.,  and Wang, B. 2022.  Widespread mineralization of soft‐bodied insects in Cretaceous amber.  Geobiology, 20: 363–376.  https://doi.org/10.1111/gbi.12488
43.  Kral, A. G., Lagos, M., Guagliardo, P., Tütken, T., and Geisler, T.  2022.  Rapid alteration of cortical bone in fresh- and seawater solutions visualized and quantified from the millimeter down to the atomic scale.  Chemical Geology, 609: 121060.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2022.121060
44.  Xie, A., Tian, N., and Gee, C.T.  2023.  Ancient Basidiomycota in an extinct conifer-like tree, Xenoxylon utahense, and a brief survey of fungi in the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of USA.  Journal of Paleontology, 97: 754–763. https://doi.org/10.1017/jpa.2023.12
45.  Tahoun, M., Engeser, M., Namasivayam, V., Sander, P. M., and Müller, C. E.  2022.  Chemistry and analysis of organic compounds in dinosaurs.  Biology, 11: 670.  
https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11050670
46.  Yang, T.-R., and Sander, P. M.  2022.  The reproductive biology of oviraptorosaurs: A synthetic view. Mesozoic Biological Events and Ecosystems in East Asia, pp. 19-34.   In: Chang, S.-C., and Zheng, D. (eds.), Mesozoic Biological Events and Ecosystems in East Asia.  Geological Society of London Special Publication 521. https://doi.org/10.1144/SP521-2021-181
47.   Liesegang, M., Schnell, A., Xie, A., Gee, C.T., Tahoun, M., Engeser, M., and Müller, C.E.  In review.  Linking silicification cycles, trace element gradients, and biomolecule preservation in Upper Jurassic gymnosperm wood.  Submitted to Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, in review since April 2022.
48.  Mähler, B., Janssen, K., Tahoun, M., Tomaschek, F., Schellhorn, R., Müller, C. E., Bierbaum, G., and Rust, J.  2022.  Adipocere formation in biofilms as a first step in soft tissue preservation.  Scientific Reports, 12(1): 10122. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-14119-8
49.  Malekhosseini, M., Ensikat, H., McCoy, V. E., Wappler, T., Weigend, M., Kunzmann, L. and Rust, J. 2022.  Traces of calcium oxalate biomineralization in fossil leaves from late Oligocene maar deposits from Germany.  Scientific Reports, 12: 15959. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-20144-4
50.  Mähler, B., Janssen, K., Lönartz, M. I., Lagos, M., Geisler, T., Rust, J., and Bierbaum, G.  2023.  Time-dependent microbial shifts during crayfish decomposition in freshwater and sediment under different environmental conditions. Scientific Reports. 13: 1539. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-28713-x
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-28713-x
51.  Howell, M. M., Gossmann, R., and Gee, C. T.  2022.  A modified, step-by-step procedure for the gentle bleaching of delicate fossil leaf cuticles.  Fossil Imprint, 78: 455–450.
https://doi.org/10.37520/fi.2022.019
52.  Mähler, B., Schellhorn, R., Schlösser, M., and Schwermann, A. H.  2023. Eiszeitfliegen in Westfalen.  Geologie und Paläontologie in Westfalen, 97: 37–49.
53.  Jiang, H., Szwedo, J., Labandeira, C. C., Chen, J., Moulds, M. S., Mähler, B., Muscente, A. D., Zhuo, D., Nyunt, T. T., Zhang, H., Wei, W., Rust, J., and Wang, B.  2024.  Mesozoic evolution of cicadas and their origins of vocalisation and root feeding.  Nature Communications.   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-44446-x
54.  Dekoster, R. N., Rember, W. C., and McCoy, V. E.  2023.  Characterization of a pyritized fossil pollen cone from Clarkia, Idaho.  Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 318: 104988. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2023.104988
55.  Li, Q., Liu, J., Gäb, F., and Sander, P. M.  In prep. Fossilization and low-grade metamorphism of Triassic marine reptiles from southwest China: A continuum of apatite transformation and fluorite precipitation. 
56.  Tahoun, M., Engeser, M., Svolacchia, L., Sander, P. M., and Müller, C. E.  2023. Molecular taphonomy of heme: Chemical degradation of heme under presumed fossilization conditions. Molecules, 28: 4887.  https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28134887
57.  Kral, A. G., Geisler, T., Wiedenbeck, M., Guagliardo, P., and Tütken, T.  2024.  Phosphate uptake is an essential process for rapid bone mineralization during early diagenesis – Evidence from bone alteration experiments.  Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, available online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2024.04.004
58.  Tahoun, M., Gee, C. T., McCoy, V. E., Stoneman, M., Raicu, V., Engeser, M., and Müller, C. E.  2024.  Suberin, the hallmark constituent of bark, identified in a 45-million-year-old monkeyhair tree (Coumoxylon hartigii) from Geiseltal, Germany.  Scientific Reports, 14: 118.  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-50402-y
59.  Stoneman, M., McCoy, V. E., Gee, C. T., Bober, K. M. M., and Raicu, V.  2024.  Fluorophores in fossil plants: Investigation through two-photon excitation fluorescence microspectroscopy. Communications Biology, 7: 53.  https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-024-05763-z
60.  Karačić, S., Palmer, B., Gee, C. T., and Bierbaum, G.  2024.  Oxygen-dependent biofilm dynamics in leaf decay: An in vitro analysis.  Scientific Reports, 14: 6728. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-57223-7
61.   Palmer, B., Karačić, S., Low, S. L., Janssen, K., Färber, H., Liesegang, M., Bierbaum, G., Gee, C. T.  In revision.  Decay experiments coupled with bacterial and fungal amplicon sequencing of water lily leaf biofilms: The influence of sediment on leaf decay rate and microbial biofilm formation.  PLOS One, in revision since October 2024.
62.   Gee, C. T., and Howell, M. M. (eds.)  2024.  International Workshop on Fossilization.  Abstracts volume.  Terra Nostra, 2024/1: 1–99.
63.   Eustache, R. P., Boyde, A., Jaurand, X., and  Sander, P. M.  In press.  Medusa’s Gaze: Cell traces and fibrils but no collagen in permineralized Jurassic ichthyosaur bone. iScience.