Biology

Tridentinosaurus antiquus, the oldest fossil reptile from the Alps is, in part, an historical forgery

By ScientifiCult 16 February 2024

Mystery solved: Tridentinosaurus antiquus, the oldest fossil reptile from the Alps is, in part, an historical forgery

Palaeontological analysis shows renowned fossil thought to show soft tissue preservation is in fact just paint

A 280-million-year-old fossil that has baffled researchers for decades has been shown to be, in part, a forgery following new examination of the remnants.

The discovery has led the team led by Dr Valentina Rossi of University College Cork, Ireland (UCC) to urge caution in how the fossil is used in future research.

Tridentinosaurus antiquus was discovered in the Italian alps in 1931 and was thought to be an important specimen for understanding early reptile evolution.

Its body outline, appearing dark against the surrounding rock, was initially interpreted as preserved soft tissues. This led to its classification as a member of the reptile group Protorosauria.

However, this new research, published in the scientific journal Palaeontology, reveals that the fossil renowned for its remarkable preservation is mostly just black paint on a carved lizard-shaped rock surface.

The purported fossilised skin had been celebrated in articles and books but never studied in detail. The somewhat strange preservation of the fossil had left many experts uncertain about what group of reptiles this strange lizard-like animal belonged to and more generally its geological history.

Dr Rossi, of UCC’s School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, said:

“Fossil soft tissues are rare, but when found in a fossil they can reveal important biological information, for instance, the external colouration, internal anatomy and physiology.”

“The answer to all our questions was right in front of us, we had to study this fossil specimen in details to reveal its secrets – even those that perhaps we did not want to know”.

Dr Valentina Rossi with an image of Tridentinosaurus antiquus. The fossil, discovered in the Italian alps in 1931, was thought to be an important specimen for understanding early reptile evolution - but has now been found to be, in part a forgery. Its body outline, appearing dark against the surrounding rock, was initially interpreted as preserved soft tissues but is now known to be paint. Credits: Zixiao Yang — Dr Valentina Rossi with an image of Tridentinosaurus antiquus. The fossil, discovered in the Italian alps in 1931, was thought to be an important specimen for understanding early reptile evolution – but has now been found to be, in part a forgery. Its body outline, appearing dark against the surrounding rock, was initially interpreted as preserved soft tissues but is now known to be paint. Credits: Zixiao Yang

The microscopic analysis showed that the texture and composition of the material did not match that of genuine fossilised soft tissues.

Preliminary investigation using UV photography revealed that the entirety of the specimen was treated with some sort of coating material. Coating fossils with varnishes and/or lacquers was the norm in the past and sometimes is still necessary to preserve a fossil specimen in museum cabinets and exhibits. The team was hoping that beneath the coating layer, the original soft tissues were still in good condition to extract meaningful palaeobiological information.

The findings indicate that the body outline of Tridentinosaurus antiquus was artificially created, likely to enhance the appearance of the fossil. This deception misled previous researchers, and now caution is being urged when using this specimen in future studies.

The team behind this research includes contributors based in Italy at the University of Padua, Museum of Nature South Tyrol, and the Museo delle Scienze in Trento.

Co-author Prof Evelyn Kustatscher, coordinator of the project “Living with the supervolcano”, funded by the Autonomous Province of Bolzano said:

“The peculiar preservation of Tridentinosaurus had puzzled experts for decades. Now, it all makes sense. What it was described as carbonized skin, is just paint”.

However all not all is lost, and the fossil is not a complete fake. The bones of the hindlimbs, in particular, the femurs seem genuine, although poorly preserved. Moreover, the new analyses have shown the presence of tiny bony scales called osteoderms – like the scales of crocodiles – on what perhaps was the back of the animal.

This study is an example of how modern analytical palaeontology and rigorous scientific methods can resolve an almost century-old palaeontological enigma.

Bibliographic information:

Forged soft tissues revealed in the oldest fossil reptile from the early Permian of the Alps, Palaeontology (16-Feb-2024), DOI: 10.1111/pala.12690

Press release from University College Cork

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Geology

Discovered a correlation between earthquakes and carbon dioxide in the Apennines

By ScientifiCult 29 August 2020

Discovered a correlation between earthquakes and carbon dioxide in the Apennines

The analysis of ten years of sampling of CO2 dissolved in the groundwaters of the Apennines showed its maximum concentration during intense seismic activity

terremoti anidride carbonica Appennino — Strong free CO2 emission associated with groundwater discharge (San Vittorino plain, Rieti). The emission is located about 30 km far from the epicentre of the April 2009 L’Aquila earthquake.

In the Apennine chain, the emission of CO₂ of deep origin appears to be well correlated with the occurrence and evolution of the seismic sequences of the last decade. This is the result of the study ‘Correlation between tectonic CO₂ Earth degassing and seismicity is revealed by a ten-year record in the Apennines, Italy‘ conducted by a team of researchers from the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV, Italy) and the University of Perugia (UNIPG, Italy) just published in ‘Science Advances’.

“For the first time an analysis of geochemical and geophysical data collected from 2009 to 2018 was carried out“, explains Giovanni Chiodini, INGV researcher and coordinator of the study. “Results of this research have shown a correspondence between deep CO₂ emissions and seismicity. In periods of intense seismic activity, peaks in the deep CO₂ flux are observed, meanwhile they dampen when the seismic energy and the number of earthquakes decrease“.

The Earth releases CO₂ of deep origin mainly from volcanoes, although these emissions also occur in seismic areas where there are no active volcanoes. In particular, this phenomenon is more intense in regions characterized by extensional tectonics, such as the area of the Apennines.

“Although the temporal relationships between the occurrence of a seismic event and the release of CO₂ are not yet fully understood“, continues Chiodini, “In this study we hypothesize that the evolution of seismicity in the Apennines is modulated by the rise of CO₂ accumulated in crustal reservoirs and produced by the partial melting of the plate subducting beneath the mountain chain“.

The continuous large-scale production of CO₂ at depth favors the formation of overpressurized reservoirs. “Seismicity in mountain ranges”, add Francesca Di Luccio and Guido Ventura, INGV researchers and co-authors of the study, “could be related to the depressurization of these reservoirs and the consequent release of fluids which, in turn, activate the faults responsible for earthquakes“.

The study was conducted by sampling the high-flow rate springs (tens of thousands of liters per second) located in the vicinity of the epicentral areas of the earthquakes that occurred in central Italy between 2009 and 2018. “These samplings allowed us to characterize the origin of the CO₂ dissolved in the water of the aquifers and to quantify the amount of the dissolved deep CO₂“, explains Carlo Cardellini, researcher of the Department of Physics and Geology of the University of Perugia, co-author of the discovery.

“The close relationship between the CO₂ release and the number and magnitude of the earthquakes, along with the results of previous seismological surveys, indicate that the earthquakes in the Apennines occurred in the last decade are associated with the rise of deeply derived CO₂. It is worth mentioning that the amount of CO₂ involved is of the same order as that emitted during volcanic eruptions (approximately 1.8 million tons in ten years)”, concludes Chiodini.

Therefore, the results of the study provide evidence on how the fluids derived from the decarbonation of a subducting plate play an important role in the genesis of earthquakes, opening new horizons in the assessment of CO₂ emissions at global scale. Finally, this work demonstrates and supports how the modern study of earthquakes requires a multidisciplinary approach in which geochemical, geophysical and geodynamic data need to be integrated.

earthquakes carbon dioxide Apennines — The Apennine earthquakes during 2007-2019 (including the destructive events of 2009 and 2016) were accompanied by evident peaks in the amount of CO2 dissolved and transported by the large Apennine water springs (tonnes per day of CO2 in the diagram)

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Abstract

Deep CO 2 emissions characterize many non-volcanic, seismically active regions worldwide and the involvement of deep CO 2 in the earthquake cycle is now generally recognized. However, no long-time records of such emissions have been published and the temporal relations between earthquake occurrence and tectonic CO 2 release remain enigmatic. Here we report a ten-year record (2009-2018) of tectonic CO 2 flux in the Apennines (Italy) during intense seismicity. The gas emission correlates with the evolution of the seismic sequences: peaks in the deep CO 2 flux are observed in periods of high seismicity and decays as the energy and number of earthquakes decrease. We propose that the evolution of seismicity is modulated by the ascent of CO 2 accumulated in crustal reservoirs and originating from the melting of subducted carbonates. This large scale, continuous process of CO 2 production favors the formation of overpressurized CO 2 -rich reservoirs potentially able to trigger earthquakes at crustal depth.

Press release on the correlation between earthquakes and carbon dioxide in the Apenninesfrom the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia and the University of Perugia.

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Environmental Science

Traffic density, wind and air stratification influence concentrations of air pollutant NO2

By ScientifiCult 1 July 2020

Traffic density, wind and air stratification influence concentrations of air pollutant NO2

Leipzig researchers use a calculation method to remove weather influences from air pollution data

traffic air pollutant nitrogen dioxide COVID-19 — Traffic density, wind and air stratification influence the pollution with the air pollutant nitrogen dioxide, according to the conclusion of a TROPOS study commissioned by the LfULG. Credits: Burkhard Lehmann, LfULG

Leipzig/Dresden. In connection with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, satellite measurements made headlines showing how much the air pollutant nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) had decreased in China and northern Italy. In Germany, traffic density is the most important factor. However, weather also has an influence on NO₂ concentrations, according to a study by the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), which evaluated the influence of weather conditions on nitrogen dioxide concentrations in Saxony 2015 to 2018 on behalf of the Saxon State Office for Environment, Agriculture and Geology (LfULG). It was shown that wind speed and the height of the lowest air layer are the most important factors that determine how much pollutants can accumulate locally.

In order to determine the influence of various weather factors on air quality, the team used a statistical method that allows meteorological fluctuations to be mathematically removed from long-term measurements. The air quality fluctuates, in some cases very strongly, due to different emissions and the influence of the weather. Until now, however, it has been difficult to estimate, what share legal measures such as low emission zones or diesel driving bans have and what share the weather influences have in the actual air quality? With the method used, this will be easier in the future.

Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is an irritant gas which attacks the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract, causes inflammatory reactions as an oxidant and increases the effect of other air pollutants. As a precursor substance, it can also contribute to the formation of particulate matter. Limit values have been set in the EU to protect the population: For nitrogen dioxide, an annual average value of 40 micrograms per cubic metre of air applies (μg/m³). To protect the health of the population, measures must be taken if these limit values are not complied with. In 2018/2019, for example, various measures were taken in Germany, ranging from a reduction in the number of lanes (e.g. in Leipzig) to driving bans for older diesel vehicles (e.g. in Stuttgart).

To evaluate the effectiveness of such measures, it would be helpful to determine the exact influence of weather conditions. The Saxon State Office for Environment, Agriculture and Geology (LfULG) therefore commissioned TROPOS to carry out a study on the influence of weather factors on NO2 concentrations and provided its measurement data from the Saxon air quality measurement network and meteorological data for this purpose. The researchers were thus able to evaluate data from 29 stations in Saxony over a period of four years, which represent a cross-section of air pollution – from stations at traffic centres to urban and rural background stations and stations on the ridge of the Erzgebirge mountains. They also calculated the height of the lowest layer in the atmosphere and incorporated data from traffic counting stations in Leipzig and Dresden into the study. A method from the field of machine learning was used for the statistical modelling, the application of which in the field of air quality was first published by British researchers in 2009.

In this way, the study was able to demonstrate that the traffic density at all traffic stations is most significantly responsible for nitrogen oxide concentrations. However, two weather parameters also have a significant influence on nitrogen dioxide concentrations: wind speed and the height of the so-called mixing layer. The latter is a meteorological parameter that indicates the height to which the lowest layer of air, where the emissions mix, extends. “It was also shown that high humidity can also reduce the concentration of nitrogen dioxide, which could be due to the fact that the pollutants deposit more strongly on moist surfaces. However, the exact causes are still unclear,” says Dominik van Pinxteren.

The statistical analysis has also enabled the researchers to remove the influence of the weather from the time series of pollutant concentrations: Adjusted for the weather, the concentration of nitrogen oxides (NOx) decreased by a total of 10 micrograms per cubic meter between 2015 and 2018 on average over all traffic stations in Saxony. In urban and rural areas and on the ridge of the Erzgebirge, however, NOx concentrations tend to remain at the same level. Even though there have been some improvements in air quality in recent years, there are good scientific arguments for further reducing air pollution.

In a way, this also applies to premature conclusions from the corona crisis: in order to find out how strong the influence of the initial restrictions on air quality actually was, the influence of the weather would have to be statistically removed in a longer series of measurements. To this end, investigations for the Leipzig area are currently underway at TROPOS, as is a Europe-wide study of the EU research infrastructure for short-lived atmospheric constituents such as aerosol, clouds and trace gases (ACTRIS), the German contribution to which is coordinated by TROPOS.

Publication:

Dominik van Pinxteren, Sebastian Düsing, Alfred Wiedensohler, Hartmut Herrmann (2020): Meteorological influences on nitrogen dioxide: Influence of weather conditions and weathering on nitrogen dioxide concentrations in outdoor air 2015 to 2018. Series of publications of the LfULG, issue 2/2020 (in German only)
https://publikationen.sachsen.de/bdb/artikel/35043
This study was commissioned by the State Office for Environment, Agriculture and Geology (LfULG).

Project:

LfULG-Projekt „Meteorologische Einflüsse auf Stickstoffdioxid“:
https://www.luft.sachsen.de/Inhalt_FuE_Projekt_Witterung_NOx_Ozon.html

Press release on traffic density, wind and air stratification influence concentrations of air pollutant NO2 by Tilo Arnhold from the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS)

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