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Fossils: Evidence for a Crime? Special Issue of the Senckenberg Journal “Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments” Frankfurt, 23.02.2012. Today the special issue “Tap honomic processes in terrestrial and marine environments” o f the Senckenberg journal “Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments” is being published online. In s even articles new scientific findings in the palaeontolo gical discipline “taphonomy” – such as on the much discussed weird posture of dinosaurs – are published. We do know it from good crime stories: the thrilling search for traces at a crime scene and the question regarding when and why the victim died. While forensic scientists and detectives often have a comparatively easy job finding traces of a natural or violent death, palaeontologists in their “cases” must take into account the endlessly large period of time that has passed since the “offence”. Many of the clues at the site have changed drastically; have been removed, or even destroyed over the millions of years. Despite, or perhaps because of these difficulties, palaeontology has developed its own field of science –taphonomy or the study of fossilisation– which is addressed to processes that happened to an organism after its death. By observing present-day natural phenomena, performing experiments and using data of forensic science, taphonomists attempt to find criteria for a “preservation of evidence” that can be applied to fossil remains. The special issue “Taphonomic processes in terrestrial and marine environments” of the Senckenberg journal “Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments” provides a deep insight into the research of taphonomists. In seven articles the taphonomists report on the precise decipherment of fossil skeletons, and on experiments on the decomposition of vertebrates. For example, the guest editors Michael Wuttke (Generaldirektion Kulturelles Erbe Rheinland-Pfalz) and Achim Reisdorf (University of Basle) discuss the origin of the legendary “death pose” of dinosaurs. Skeletons of long-necked and long-tailed dinosaurs often display a weird pose in which both the head and the tail are recurved over the back of the animal. This posture has been fascinating palaeontologists for more than 150 years. It often has been interpreted as a fossilised expression of death throes. Based on the world famous dinosaur Compsognathus longipes from the vicinity of

PRESS RELEASE 23.02.2012 Contact Dr. Michael Wuttke Generaldirektion Kulturelles Erbe Tel. 06131-2016400 Michael.Wuttke@gdke.rlp.de Dipl.-Geol Achim G. Reisdorf Universität Basel Geologisch-Paläontologisches Institut Tel. 0041-61-267-3611 achim.reisdorf@unibas.ch Press office Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung Judith Jördens Tel. 069- 7542 1434 judith.joerdens@senckenberg.de Press images

Compsognathus longipes from the limestone at the famous fossil site at Solnhofen. The neck and the tail are recurved over the back of the dinosaur © G. Janßen, O. Rauhut, Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie

Ichthyosaur (Stenopterygius) skeleton with approximately10 embryos from the famous fossil site at Holzmaden. Most of the heavily disarticulated embryo skeletons were transported away from the mother’s body by bottom currents. © Staatlichens Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart

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the Bavarian fossil site at Solnhofen, the scientists have conducted a comprehensive analysis of this much-discussed hypothesis. “We were convinced that this dinosaur does not display death spasms, but rather a process which happened after death, namely during the decomposition of the corpse,” explains Michael Wuttke and adds: “For this reason we exposed plucked chicken necks – fresh from the poultry butcher – to different conditions. As soon as they were submerged in water the necks bent backwards at an angle of more than 90 degrees.” The degree of re-curving continued to increase during the putrefaction process under water. The re-curving can be attributed to a ligament structure, the so-called “Ligamentum elasticum”, which connects the vertebrae to each other on the upper side. This ligament was of great importance for long-necked and long-tailed dinosaurs. “The pre-stressed ligament helped them passively to save energy – otherwise it would have been necessary to hold neck and tail upright by muscular strength. After death many dinosaurs found a watery grave; there, the stored energy along the vertebra was strong enough to arch back the neck and the tail. Corresponding to the advancing disintegration of the muscles of the dinosaurs, the head and tail continued to curve further back over the trunk,” says Michael Wuttke. The topics covered by other articles of the “taphonomic special issue” range from decomposition experiments on a dormouse to the fate of deceased ichthyosaurs and marine crocodile-like animals. These papers contradict old perceptions that these animals would have initially float after death at the sea surface where they exploded due to the pressure of putrefaction gases. Instead, they sank immediately and decomposed at the sea bottom. Another highlight of the special issue are two articles which elucidate the causation of the exceptional preservation of vertebrate skeletons from the UNESCO-World Heritage of the famous Messel pit near Darmstadt (Germany) which is based on the formation of grave wax. Summarizing their results, all palaeo-detectives of the special issue came to the conclusion: “Usually it’s hard to say if the place of discovery is identical with the place of death. However, we’re able to explain certain principles for the formation of extraordinarily well preserved fossils.” That is a fascinating result of investigation. The research of life forms in their diversity and their ecosystems, climate research and geology, the search for past life and finally the understanding of the entire earth/life system – that is what the SENCKENBERG Gesellschaft für Naturforschung works towards. Exhibitions and museums are the windows to natural history research, by which means the Senckenberg shares the latest scientific knowledge with the public and provides an insight into past ages and the diversity of nature. More information is available at www.senckenberg.de.

Cover of the publication “Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeo-environments“ © Springer These images are released for press publication via the Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung. Publications: Wuttke M, Reisdorf AG (eds.) Taphonomic processes in terrestrial and marine environments. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments 92(1) http://www.springerlink.com/content/v593n4502643/ Reisdorf AG & Wuttke M (2012): Re-evaluating Moodie's Opisthotonic-Posture Hypothesis in fossil vertebrates. Part I: Reptiles - The taphonomy of the bipedal dinosaurs Compsognathus longipes and Juravenator starki from the Solnhofen Archipelago (Jurassic, Germany). DOI: 10.1007/s12549-011-0068-y http://www.springerlink.com/content/311101262274k114/ Reisdorf et al. (2012) Float, explode or sink: post-mortem fate of lung-breathing marine vertebrates. DOI: 10.1007/s12549-011-0067-z http://www.springerlink.com/content/952610xv7h737814/ Beardmore et al. (2012) Float or sink: modelling the taphonomic pathway of marine crocodiles (Mesoeucrocodylia, Thalattosuchia) during the death–burial interval. DOI: 10.1007/s12549-011-0066-0 http://www.springerlink.com/content/8l54506310l5842h/ The press release and image material can also be found at www.senckenberg.de/presse