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20h ago

Pterosaur Wing Yields Steroid Biomarkers and Shows Microbe-Driven Mineral Sealing

Analysis suggests oxygen-driven microbes triggered rapid mineral sealing, preserving anatomy, molecules and dietary clues that signal a broader Lagerstätten mechanism.

Image
Pterosaur in flight
Microscope view of a pterosaur fossil section showing carbon coating and mineral layers. Microscope view of a pterosaur fossil section showing carbon coating and mineral layers. Credit Grice et al., iScience (2026)
Grice et al. integrate organic geochemical analyses with high-resolution micro-mineral imaging of a three-dimensionally preserved Cretaceous pterosaur wing phalanx from Brazil to reveal steroid biomarkers and multi-stage mineralization pathways underlying its preservation. Image credit: Grice et al., doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2026.116199.

Overview

  • High-resolution imaging and geochemical tests show a three-dimensionally preserved 113-million-year-old pterosaur wing phalanx from Brazil retains microscopic collagen-like fibers and layered mineral infillings.
  • The iScience paper, published June 19, 2026, reports the first recovery of steroid-derived molecules (steranes) from a pterosaur and uses carbon isotopes to link those biomarkers to a diet of fish and squid.
  • Researchers interpret preservation as a multi-stage process in which a specialised microbiome, including sulfur-oxidising bacteria, drove local redox shifts that promoted rapid fluorapatite then carbonate mineral formation around the bone.
  • Minerals such as fluorapatite, calcite, barite and celestite record the chemical steps of entombment and show how oxidative conditions can, in specific cases, seal and protect organic compounds rather than destroy them.
  • The team proposes this microbe-driven, oxygen-enabled pathway may operate at other Lagerstätten, meaning targeted searches of similar concretions could reveal more ancient biomolecules and new ecological insights.