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Carl,
Brownish inarticulate brachiopods are pigmented with iron hydroxide (presumably goethite), a relatively stable compound. There are many Cambrian and Ordovician examples of brown pigmentation in lingulids and obolids -- it's not a rare phenomenon. Some have a solid color, others are banded concentrically.
John Harrington wrote in his wonderful work of geophilosophy, "To See a World", of cracking open a nodule to find a green leaf inside. It immediately began to curl, flake, and discolor. "Here was a Triassic salad, going to waste," he wrote. "So I ate it."
I forget the details, but Hoare wrote a couple of annotated bibliographies on color in fossils. They should pop right up on GeoRef.
Cheers,
Andy
Andrew K. Rindsberg
Geological Survey of Alabama
- -----Original Message-----
- From: paleonet-owner@nhm.ac.uk [mailto:paleonet-owner@nhm.ac.uk] On Behalf Of Carl Mehling
- Sent: Monday, June 13, 2005 1:26 PM
- To: paleonet@nhm.ac.uk
- Subject: paleonet Fossil Color
- Color patterns are common in the invertebrate fossil record, but real color is extremely uncommon across the board. I know of the Clarkia leaves, some amber insects and the Messel beetles. There must be a few more examples. I turn to you all.
- Thanks,
- Carl
- Carl Mehling
- Fossil Amphibian, Reptile, and Bird Collections
- Division of Paleontology
- American Museum of Natural History
- Central Park West @79th Street
- New York, NY 10024
- (212) 769-5849
- Fax: (212) 769-5842
- cosm@amnh.org
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