joshuavise Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 Just a silly curious question, but I thought I'd throw it out there. What is the oldest identifiable organic material that could be found? In case this is not phrased correctly, what I mean is "What is the oldest bone we could expect to find that would actually be bone, and not a mineral replacement?" I am aware that Mary Schweitzer may have found blood vessels and osteocytes in a T-rex limb. Are there any other things that may have been preserved in their original state as long, or longer than, this one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranzBernhard Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 3 hours ago, joshuavise said: oldest identifiable organic material With some original organic molecules still there? I am throwing in bacterial spores in Permian salt. Franz Bernhard 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoda Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 Precambrian Stromatolites ??? MotM August 2023 - Eclectic Collector Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 Devonian soft tissue https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4641730/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBkansas Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 Stromalites, it looks like: https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article-abstract/47/11/1039/573756/Nano-porous-pyrite-and-organic-matter-in-3-5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 An Ediacarian organism, Dickinsonia, still has associated original lipid molecules. https://www.science.org/content/article/fossil-one-world-s-earliest-animals-according-fat-molecules-preserved-half-billion Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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